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PAGE 2—THE BULLETIN, December 24, 1960 Franciscans Centenary In Former (N.C.W.C. News Service) JERUSALEM, Jordan—The Franciscan Friars of the Holy Land are celebrating the 400th anniversary of their present headquarters in Jerusalem, St. Saviour’s Monastery. Christians throughout the Holy Land are celebrating with them, for the brown- robed Friars kept Christianity alive in the Holy Land during the centuries that followed the fall of the Crusaders’ kingdom. And for almost 250 years St. Saviour’s was the seat and symbol of the Church’s autho rity in a Moslem-ruled land. Local tradition also points to St. Saviour’s as the place where schismatic monks gave refuge to St. Ignatius Loyola from the fury of a Moslem mob. It is said that Ignatius tried to preach the Christian religion to a gathering of Mos lem pilgrims before the Mosque of Omar. To this day an eight-by-five cell in the monastery is known as “The Prison of St. Ignatius.” It is held that the Georgian (Armenian) monks who then lived in St. Saviour’s kept him in hiding there for three months. St. Francis himself sent the Friars to the Holy Land in 1219. From shortly after the disappearance of the Catholic Hierarchy in that same centu ry until the middle of the last century, the Franciscan pro vincial superior of the Holy Land was the supreme autho rity for Catholics there. He was known as the “Custos” or Custodian of the Holy Land, and he had episcopal jurisdic tion, but not orders. The Turk ish government granted him many privileges as civil head of the “Latin nation” in Pal estine. Since the re-establishment of the Latin Patriarchat in Jerusalem in 1847, the Custos has returned to his original office as provincial but has been entitled to the use of ceremonies appropriate to a bishop. His residence is St. Saviour’s. All Franciscan friaries in Syria and Palestine were de stroyed by the Saracens in 1291, and many of the friars were slaughtered. The Custody of the Holy Land was revived in 1333. The custodian used to reside at a friary on Mount Sion until 1560 when he estab lished residence at St. Sav iour’s. The Franciscans on Mount Sion were guardians of the Cenacle, which King Robert of Sicily purchased from the Sultan and gave to the Holy See. They guarded it as the site of the Last Supper, of the manifestation of Our Lord af ter the Resurrection, and of the descent of the Holy Ghost. But shortly after its acquisi tion, rumors spread that under the lower room was the tomb of King David, whom the Mos lems regard as a great prophet. By the middle of the 16th century, the Holy Land’s Mos lem rulers took these reports so seriously that they took measures to evict the Francis cans from the sanctuary and their monastery on Mount Sion. The Franciscans took shelter in an abandoned stone building outside the wall of the Old City, but constant at tacks from mauraders and even wild beasts soon forced them to seek protection inside the city. The friars began negotiating with the Georgian monks at St. Saviour’s for the use of their monastery. After the ex change of a large sum of mon ey and the approval of civil authorities in Constantinople, the friars began restoring the ancient building. On the morning of Decem ber 9, 1560, the flag of the Crusaders fluttered atop the monastery of St. Saviour as it had 400 years before from the Observe Fourth Of Headquarters Orthodox Monastery fortresses of the Crusaders. That flag — a large red cross on a white field with a small cross within each angle of the large cross — is even today the international flag of the Holy Land. It flies from atop the churches and monasteries, hospices and schools of the “Little Brothers of the Cord,” and the Franciscans are affec tionately known among their Moslem, Jewish and Christian friends. St. Saviour’s has developed from the small Georgian struc ture into a gigantic compound, As the seat of the Father Cus tos of the Holy Land and his advisory council (one Italian, two Frenchmen, two Span iards, one American, one Ger man and one Arab), it is the nerve center of the vast Fran ciscan mission in Jordan, Is rael,. Syria, Lebanon, Cyprus, Turkey and Egypt. For centuries the Custody of the Holy Land has maintained over 400 homes for the poor, met rental obligations for over 387 families, aided financially the clergy of the Coptic rite in Cairo by establishing a cen ter for the study of Oriental languages, and set up a Bibli cal Institute in Jerusalem. It has opened and maintained seven colleges for young men and two for women; 25 free grade schools for boys and girls, regardless of race, color, or creed, with a registration of 15,000 (1959-60); 5 colleges and seminaries, an agricultural school in Egypt; a home for the aged in Cyprus; five phar macies and several dispensa ries; and three hospices for pilgrims with a tourist infor mation bureau in Jerusalem. The activities of the Custody extend into the field of publi cations. A monthly La Terra Sancta, is published in four languages: Arabic, French, Italian and Spanish. Liber An nus is edited by the Biblical Institute in Jerusalem; Collec tanea is issued and printed by the School for Oriental lang uages in Cairo; Pax et Bonum, a weekly newspaper in Arabic, is published and printed in Nazareth, Israel. C. U. Rector M.l.T. Speaker WASHINGTON, (NC) — Msgr. William J. McDonald, rector of the Catholic Univer sity of America, is giving the opening address at a govern ment-sponsored scientific-cul tural conference (Dec. 16-17) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Msgr. McDonald, only rep resentative of a Catholic insti tution at the two-day national meeting, is speaking on “The Impact of Science and Tech nology on the Western Cul ture Tradition.” General theme of the con ference is “Science in Inter national Education and Cul tural Affairs.” It is sponsored jointly by the State Depart ment and the National Science Foundation. REMEMBERED GIFT It is curious how Christmas gets in the blood. A man may be as poor as a church mouse, he may live in a gloomy de- he may live in gloomy de pressing surroundings, and yet at this time of the year, a cheery word or a gay gesture may put him in such a happy mood that this particular sea son will live forever in his memory. Years ago, when Hamlin Garland was a boy and a part of a struggling farm family in a little Wisconsin commun ity, he knew nothing of all the lavish luxuries that are now associated with gift-giving at Christmas time. But he receiv ed a present that he remem bered as long as he lived. mqA UNUSUAL/ CAN DIE Committee Has Aided More Than 4,000 Children WASHINGTON (NC) — The Catholic Committee for Refu gees — National Catholic Wel fare Conference has since 1946 assisted in the resettlement of 3,877 children, exclusive of Hungarian refugees. Hungarian refugee youths in whose resettlement the com mittee assisted totaled 441 be tween 1956 and 1958. These figures were disclosed by the agency in its report to the annual meeting of the U. S. Bishops. In the past year the com mittee assisted 334 children — 221 from Italy, 62 from Ger many, 21 from Korea, 18 from. Hong Kong, 9 from Poland, 7 from Malta, 2 from the Philip pines, 2 from Portugal, and 2 from Yugoslavia. Of the children who have come to the country since 1946, 1,932 have been adopted, the report said. It stated that current reports on their ad justment “indicate that the children . . . are doing well and have the capacity to be assimilated quickly into their new families.” The report predicted that re ferrals of children from Italy will remain high and that the number will increase from Germany. It said referrals from Hong Kong and Korea “continue at a good rate” and while many children from these areas have already been placed, “the need remains great in obtaining sponsors.” In the period covered by the report the committee dealt with 645 new cases and 10 re opened cases. It closed 1,006 cases. 7 Belmont Students In “Who’s Who” BELMONT — Seven mem bers of the senior class at Belmont Abbey College, Bel mont, N. C., were elected to appear in the 1960-61 edition of Who’s Who in American Universities and Colleges.” The seven students are also candidates for degrees in June of this year. The list of students who were elected is as follows: Chee K. Chan of Hong Kong, majoring in Chemistery and a member of Delta Epsilon Sigma national honor society; Richard W. Dondero of River Edge, New Jersey, majoring in Sociology and a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity; James R. Giermanski of Grosse Point Woods, Michigan, major ing in English, president of the Student Government and a member of Tau Kappa Ep silon Fraternity; Kenneth G. Quick of Charlotte, N. C., ma joring in Business Manage ment; Carl T. Leffler of Brook lyn, New York, majoring in Chemistry, member of Phi Kappa Theta Fraternity and the Crusaders Basketball Team; Miss Meurice R, Mathis of Gastonia, N. C., ma-joring in History and a member of Delta Epsilon Sigma national honor society; and James A. Mullen of Brooklyn, New York, majoring in History and a member of Delta Epsilon Sigma national honor frater nity, Tau Kappa Epsilon Fra ternity, and the Crusaders Basketball Team. Election to this honor is made on the basis of a stu dent’s excellence and sincerity in scholarship; his leadership and participation in extra curricular and academic activ ities; his campus citizenship and service to the college; all of which will reflect his fu ture promise of leadership in society and business. To be selected for this hon or and to be elected by the National Committee is one of the highest honors to be earn ed in American colleges. CHINESE MADONNA The universality of the Church is nowhere better illustrated than in religious art. Our Lord and Our Lady are nearly always depicted with the facial charac teristics and costume of the artist’s country. This Chinese Madonna is no exception. garden city BOWL, INC. 1241 Gordon Highway Augusta, Georgia Phone: PA. 4-9871 Leagues Stopped for Holidays — Open Bowling Until After January 1, 1961 AND COME OUT AND HAVE FUN! BRING YOUR DATE OR FAMILY READ IT FIRST IN . . . 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