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6 fHE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGI \ JULY 10, 1928 THE BULLETIN The Official Organ of the Catholic Laymen's Association of Georgia. RICHARD REID, Editor. Published Semi-Monthly by the Publicity Department with the Approbation of the lit. Rev. Bishops, of Raleigh, Char leston, Savannah, St. Augustine, Mobile and Natchez. MOD Lainar Building. Augusta, Georgia. Subscription Price, $2.00 Per Year. FOREIGN ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE S. T. Mattingly, Walton Bldg •.. Atlanta, Ga. ^ ASSOCIATION OFFICERS FOR 1924-25. £• H. RICE, K. C. S. C., Augusta President COL. I\ H. CALLAHAN. K.S.G., Louisville, Ky., and ADMI RAL WM. S. BENSON, K.C.S.G., Washington, D. C. Honorary Vice-Presidents L J. HAVERTY, Atlanta First Vice-President £• B. McCALLUM. Atlanta Secretary THOMAS S. GRAY, Augusta Treasurer RICHARD • REID, Augusta Publicity Director MISS CECILE C. FERRY, Augusta. .Asst, Publicity Director VOL. VII. JULY 10, 1926. . No. 13 Member of N. C. W. C. News Service and of the Catholic Pfcss Association of the Uuited States and Canada. Entered an second class matter June 15, 1921, at the Post Office at Augusta, Ga., under Act of March, 1879. Accepted for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Sec tion 1103, Oct of October 3, 1917, authorized Sept 1, 1921. The Laymen s Retreat The annual retreat for laymen will be conducted at Sacred Heart College, Augusta, from Thursday evening, July 15, to the following Sunday morning. The retreat will be under the direction of Rev. David J. Foulkcs, S. J., of the Jesuit Mission Band of New Orleans. The relreatants will remain at the college during the days of the retreat. The expenses will be met by private voluntary contributions. This mere announcement will be sufficient to bring to Augusta all those who have irfade a retreat before if they can possibly arrange it, even by a great sacrifice. They know the value of a retreat; they know the consolation, the “peace which surpasseth understanding” that these few days spent apart from the world and walking with God bring them. Religious make an annual retreat. Nuns, brothers, priests, bishops, the Holy Fattier himself, all retire from the world for a period of prayer and meditation; it is considered essential for them, although their lives are in a way perpetual retreats. A retreat is even more necessary for the layman, living in the world and being subjected to its materializing in fluences as he is. A retreat is a season of spiritual stock-taking. No merchant or business man in his sound mind would go into another year without taking stock. It is very important that he know where he stands in a financial way. But our chief concern upon this earth is not to pile up wealth but to save our souls. A spiritual taking of slock is therefore more important than one in business. An application blank for the jetreat, which has the wholehearted approval of our Rt. llcv. Bishop, who is spiritual director of the Retreat Association, will lie found elsewhere in The Bulletin. It should be mailed at once in order to facilitate arrangements. The Eucharistic Congress Tn all the numberless years that the sun has been blazing its pathway through the heavens, never did it look down upon scenes such as those it brightened when the Twenty-Eighth International Eucharistic Congress was held in Chicago. Never before in the history of the world did so many people gather from such distances at one Unite for any purpose as they did on the shores of Lake Michigan to honor our Divine Lord in the Holy Eucharist, to express their faith in this central dogma of their Church. The doctrine of the Eucharist is perhaps not as hard to believe today as in the days of our Saviour because of thb wonders of science which by the rush of wheels change great cities thousands of miles away from the darkness of night to the brilliance of mid day, warm gigantic structures, ntove long trains of heavy ears with amazing speed and transmit with starting clearness the voice of a speaker to unseen thousands and even millions in distant places. To continue the parallel, made by the Cardinal Archbishop of Chicago at the opening of the Congress: ‘‘Who will honestly say in the face of wonders such as these and the many science will yet produce, that to the God Who has buried such wonderous things in our universe the miracle of the Eucharist is impossible, that He Who can multiply the flames of light and the sounds on the waves of the air by millions cannot cause His real Body and Blood to come down oil thou sands of altars at the call of His priests and he taken under the cover of bread as the food for the millions of His children into their souls.” , Sous and daughters of the Catholic Church be lieve without the shadow of a doubt that God can and docs cause His real Body and Blood to coirfe down upon altars at the call of His priests a3 He promised at the Last Supper; it was to profess their belief in Jesus Christ in the Eucharist that they journied from all parts of the United States, from Canada, Mexico and South Amercia, from every corner of Europe, from Asia, Africa, Australia and the South Sea Isles, the great and the lowly, the prince, the pre late, the priest and the pilgrim, and in such numbers aad with such devotion that Cardinal Mundelein could say: “No King on earth, no emperor of Rome was ever honored as Jesus Christ is honored today in the City of Chicago.” The Eucharistic Congress has its message for non- Catholics as well as for Catholics. In the materialistic twentieth century when the spirit of the world seems to be utterly apposed to that of religion and when pseudo—scientists proclaim that religion has been re legated to the junk pile with other outworn nfyths, the Catholic Church holds the greatest demonstration of religious faith the world has ever seen, one based on a dogma that has been handed down unchanged through nineteen hundred years, fn a day when na tions seem seething with hatred, one million Catho lics from every nation under the sun meet in a gath ering permeated with love and to honor the Sacrament of Divine Love. In a day when the spirit of the world strives to exile God from its affairs, an unprecedented gathering turns to Him and adores Him in His Real Presence. Like Peter of old, they say: “To whom will we go, O Lord? Thou hast the words of eternal life.” In Jesus Christ is the solution of every difficulty fac ing the world today. And the Holy Eucharist is Jesus Christ. May the Eucharistic Congress bring to our brethren not of the household of the faith a realiza tion of file ineffable sweetness of the Sacrament of the Altar and of the Divine Heart burning there with tenderest love for perplexed and suffering hnirtanity. No Reason For Antagonism The State, published at Columbia, S. C., recently quoted at length a New York clergyman’s views on the literature of the day. Said this clergyman: “Tile most important group I would call the writ ing men—literary fellows who are straining every nerve to foist upon America the ultra sophistication, the blase civilization of Europe. There is no sim plicity, no old fashioned morality in their literature. There is the decadent type of the old French litera ture they are pouring out to poison and stain the mind and character of American youth. “They prefer Broadway with its dirty plays and indecent naked revues. They prefer the Broadway of shamelessness where, in the phrase of the day ‘everything goes.’ They prefer the Broadway where, after seeing a dirty show, the sophisticated go to a rotten night club, where we read that, in the midst of drinking and naked dancing, murder has been done at 4 o’clock in the morning.” These expressions “might have fallen from the lips of a'minister in Spartanburg, S. C., Wadcsboro, N. C._ or in any other typical Southern community,” The State remarks. “They would have evoked general ap proval ; indeed they might have proceeded from one of the traveling evangelists who so often arouse or revive religious feeling.” But, says The State, “the speaker was not a Bap tist, Methodist, nor a Presbyterian. He was Rev. John M. Gillis a member of the Paulist Fathers of the Roman Catholic church, and he was addressing 4,000 members of the Holy Name Society at breakfast before going with them in a body to holy Communion in St. Patrick’s Cathedral. “The State has made the quotation by way of show ing how little is the reason or excuse in South Caro lina, in North Carolina, or anywhere else for sectarian antagonisms, whether between Protestants or between Protestants and Roman Catholics. Father Gillis’ ex pressions were exactly typical of the opinion of the majority of the Christian people of South Carolina, of whom less than two per cent are Roirfan Catholics.” Father Gillis’s name is James M., not John, and Communion breakfasts are partaken after and not before Holy Communion, but these innocent inaccura cies add to the effectiveness of the editorial since they indicate that the sentiments expressed came from a non-Catholic. Thinking non-Catliolics, like Asso ciate Justice Hines, who recently declared in an ad dress to the Bar Association of Georgia that although he did not believe in the teachings of the Catholic church, “1 do know that Catholics believe in the preservation of the American home and the American governintent,” agree with the comment of The State. They see the Catholic Church arrayed against every evil, driving them back gradually, without doing vio lence to the free will of man; operating not with revolutionary force but with progressive energy, a plan of action that centuries of experience have taught it is the only logical and psychological one. With the Catholic church unalterably opposed to the things Christian-minded people agree are evil, it seems thgt instead of experiencing opposition on all sides the 7 Catholic church, with its influence for good, should be welcomed as an effective ally. Religious and educational leaders admit that the greatest danger facing this country today comes from the growing irreligious spirit; most of our present evils may be traced to it. The Catholic church, with its twenty or more millions of menfbers in the United States, is the greatest American bulwark against the rising tide of materialism and irreligion. The forces of agnosticisirf realize the fact and direct their at tacks upon her; non-Catholic Christians do the cause of Christianity and religion a poor service when they assist anti-religious forces in their destructive efforts. DIXIE MUSINGS-clt^L Rack home again among the red lulls of Georgia, we gaze in medi tating mood down the green val ley of the placid Savannah and wonder if the Eucharistic Congress were not only a glorious dream. But piles of accumulated matter sent out from Chicago and Wash ington by the N. C. W. C. News Service and demanding immediate attention convince us of the real ity of tlie scenes of the congress, the equal of which we do not ex pect to see again this side of etern ity. The Catholic editors reached Chicago from Detroit where they had been in convention. The first ceremony they witnessed after Mass and Communion Sunday morning was the solemn opening of the congress at the Cathedral, described elsewhere in this issue. The great Cathedral was filled be yond its seating capacity long be fore even the priests in the pro cession filed in. There were enough bishops in the congregation to fill the average church in Georgia and enough prelates to fill many city edifices. Cardinal Bonzano, papal legate, and Cardinal Mundelein, host to the congress, were the speakers at the mass, before which the papal brief was read. Inside the Cathe dral was a scene perhaps never be fore witnessed outside Rome— the Papal Legate ten cardinals, hundreds of archbishops, bishpps and abbots as well as monsignori, and thousands of priests. Swarm ing around the great Cathedral were tens of thousands of the lai ty ; only 250 members of the laity, newspapermen were in the Cathe dral. But amplmcrs enabled the others to follow the mass and the addresses of the cardinals. It was a queer sensation for those in side the Cathedral to hear the thousands outside applaud the Car dinal legate and the cardinal arch bishop of Chicago. We hear much about the conflict between religion and science. Here was science, through the amplifier and the ra dio, aiding religion by bringing the words of the cardinals and the music of the mass to millions of cars outside the edifice. The congress “is a manifesta tion of faith—a tremendous visible act of faith,” declared the Cardi nal Legate in his opening address. He paid tribnte to the Holy Father, to America, to Chicago, to Cardinal Mundelein. But the congress is to honor Christ, he said, for “with out Christ all else iis vain.” This is why St. Paul filled with the spirit of Christ, exclaimed: “I live, now, not I but Christ livetli in me!’ What a perfect realization of the end for which Christ gave us the Eucharist” Which the con gress was convened to honor. A million Catholics came to Chi cago, drawn from the ends of the earth. “Far be it from us to look upon it as a demonstration of our strength and numbers,” declared Cardinal Mundelein. Little would it avail us wer- it to vaunt our superiority and our own glory. Rather it is our hope that the ex ample of our vivid attachment to the Holy Eucharist and our evident appreciation of the gift that is ours therein, may encourage the multi tude of earnest souls outside the church to learn for themselves of this marvelous condescension on God’s part to us humans” in the sacrament of the Eucharist. Chicago during the congress held some of the most learned theolog ians in the world! There were no deep, technical treatises expound ed as sermons; the simple faith of Pasteur’s Briton peasant’s wife seemed to be their keynote. There were pageants such as the Roman Emperors in all their glory never achieved, with the Papal Legate as the central figure, liut there was a note of humility running through out—the glory was reftrred to our Divine Lord in the Eucharist. The greatest demonstrations the coun try had ever seen were those work ed up in times of patriotic fever when the people were convinced that their liberties were at stake, their homes endangered, their lov ed ones threatened; here was a gathering perme'ated, as a Miss issippi Protestant remarked, by a note of harmony, good will, love and purely voluntary. The weather for the congress was ideal for the first four days, and for all but 15 minutes of the fifth day; it was ideal for the spirit of the congress during those 15 min-’ ut'es. Showers threatened Monday, hut suddenly the clouds retreated and the sun streamed out in glo rious victory. Thursday, when the procession of the Blessed Sacrament was being held at Mundelein, the heavens opened. We have seen the same thing happen during a police parade in New York; in 30 seconds Hie sidewalks were deserted by their tens of thousands; in another thirty the police themselves were under cover. At Mundelein hail pounded the aged prelates, the wind all but tore their vestments from them, the rain drenched them and blotted out the line between the lake and the greensward, but the pro cession went serenely on. All hut a haudful of the million pilgrims stuck by their posts, and when the Lord God of Hosts was borne among them, down on their knees on the muddy ground they went to pay homage to their Creator and Re deemer., What greater demonstra tion of faith could one ask? And what is more needed in our mate rialistic 20th century? Sixty thousand children sang the Mass at the Stadium Monday morn ing. Two hundred and fifty thou sand occupied the interior of the great field; an even larger number surged around the field and along the lakefront. We caught a glimpse of our Rt. Rev. Bishop in the color ful procession; Bishop Hafcy, of Raleigh, Bishop Barry of Florida, Bishop Allen of Mobile, Bishop Ge- row of Natchez, Bishop Smith of Nashville, were also there from the Southeast. So were Abbot Charles of St. Leo and Abbot Vincent of Bel mont. attired in cope and mitre, Cardinal Bonzano presided at the Mass celebrated at a great altar erected under the blue dome of heaven. Archbishop Curley delivered the sermon. As he gazed out over the congregation, stretching a quarter 0 f a mile away to the other end of the stadium and more than half that distance across, he saw the great est audience one n^an had ever spoken to up to that time. The radio and amplifiers brought his words to other hundreds of thou sands. Thousands of sisters occu pied seats in the stands on the gos pel side.of the field. Seated among them as a simple pilgrim was the governor of New York. Tuesday morning at the Mass at the Stadium, Captain Rice, presi dent of the laymen’s association; was one of the three guards of honor io the Legate, the guards be ing attired in the uniform of a Knight of St. Gregory. The attend ance was even larger than the pre vious day. In the evening 250,000 Holy Name men thronged the sta dium. After the addresses by Sen ator Walsh and several Cardinals, all of them on the subject of the Holy Eucharist., the lights were ex tinguished, and the 250,000 Holy Name men lighted candles they car ried. TEe result was awe-inspiring. The beauty of heaven was reflected in that scene. The Blessed Sacrament was expos ed continuously at the Cathedral of the Holy Name. The Cathedral was thronged at all hours of the day. A Holy Hour for newspapermen was scehduled for Tuesday morning from two to three. Arriving there at that time we found the edifice sur rounded by many hundreds and the body of the church well filled Masses started at three o’clock, and were celebrated continuously until late in the morning, thousands re ceiving Holy Communion. Laborers and the great of the nation prayed together throughout the long watch es of the night. No indication here that religion is losing its force! The procession at Mundelein was the climax of the Congress. We left the hotel not long after five in the morning, after having attended Mass and received Communion there, reaching Mundelein, thirty-two miles away, a few minutes before eleven o’clock ;Cardinal Hayes was deliv ering the sermon. If it were not for our press card we could not have hoped to get within a half mile of the Mass. While endeavoring to reach the press box we lost our traveling companion. Benedict El der, of Louisville, Ky., and we have not found him vet. Our exit was ac complished by following the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, which played at the Mass, over a two foot dam across the lake. Trains were still discharging capacity loads at Mun delein when we started back for Chi cago in the afternoon. We were al most a thousand miles away before some of the pilgrims to Mundelein were back in Chicago. There was no commercialism con- nccled with the Congress. One lad with no conscience collected a dollar each from a number of motorists for parking on what developed to be a public highway, hut incidents of this kind were rare. There wero GO,000 automobiles at Mundelein, officials of the Congress estimated. When ever there was a traffic jam air planes were sent up to observe con ditions; traffic was then diverted over less traveled' roads and the difficulty solved. Airplanes flew ov er the grounds almost/ continuously carrying photographs of the ceremo nies hack to Chicago or tdlung aeri al pictures of the gathering. The Georgia delegation made a splendid impression. Its members were distinguished by red hat hands inscribed with a gold Georgia. Pro bably three hundred Georgians were there, a magnificent showing for a Diocese of 20,004). Other Dioceses in the Southeast VCere also well repre sented. It was our pleasure to meet our Rt. Rev. Bishop near the Sta- (Continued on page 1) ,^j(