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APRIL, 13, 1929 THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA 5 Pauline, St. Therese’s Sister, Tells of Early Signs of Her Sanctity The Laymen of Georgia Editorial in the Catholic Union and Times, Official Paper of the Diocese of Buffalo Harvard Professor, Convert While in France With Wilson, Ordained % Through Father Dolan She Sends Message to Friends of Little Flower in America By Rev. Albert H. Dolan, O.Carm. National Director, Society of the Bittle Flower. We were forced to stop last issue before I had completed my story, of my interview with Pauline Martin, second mother and eldest sister of the Little Flower. In order that you might appreciate the thrill of the in terview, I tried to explain how close and intimate was the union between Therese and Pauline, but now we may add by way of preliminary a few more facts which will serve to illustrate their intimacy. No one understood the Little Flow er as well as Pauline. No one, not even her father, I think, contributed so much to the formation of the Lit tle Flower’s character. To realize this, just consider that the Little Flower’s mother died when Therese was four years old and from that time on Pauline was more than a mother to St. Therese, more than a mother because for several years the Little Flower was too frail to be sent out to school and during that time Pauline was her only teacher. Then later in the Carmelite Con vent, Pauline was the Little Flow er’s Mother Superior and therefore, the Religious Mother of the Little Flower also, and it was to Pauline, as her Religious Superior, that the Little Flower first confided her prom ises: “I will spend my heaven in doing good up earth . . . After my death I will let fall a shower of roses.” Pauline knew the Little Flower so well that when at nine years of age the Little Flower ex pressed a desire .eventually to enter a convent, Pauline knew that it was no passing childish fancy but a real vocation, and therefore she encour aged the Little Flower, although an other sister, Marie, tried to discour age Therese. It was Pauline, too, who did not a little to remove the obstacles in the way of the Little Flower’s entrance to the convent at the age of 15. Then there is another fact that will illustrate the tenderness of the Little Flower’s attachment to Pau line. After Pauline had left for the Carmelite Convent the Little Flower as a consequence had fallen seri ously ill, and while she was still confined to her bed, the day on which Pauline would take the veil was approaching. That day would ordinarily be a joyous day for the entire Martin family because on that day, since the vows had not been taken, relatives could not only talk with but actually see for the last time the sisters who were taking the veil. The family of the Little Flower carefully refrained from speaking of the coming event in the hearing of the Little Flower because they feared to aggravate her illness by exciting regrets that she could not seize this last opportunity of seeing Pauline. But the Little Flower needed no reminder, she sur prised the entire family one day by declaring from her sick bed that they would be able to attend the ceremony and as a matter of fact she was able to go and she tells us in her own words, “When the glo rious day came I was able to leave my bed and to go to the convent where, after the ceremony, once again I had the happiness of em- braci'^r Praline, my Little Mother, of sitting on her knee and receiv ing her caresses and hiding my lit- Dr. Purcell Author of New U. S. History Text Book Ginn and Company is now adver tising for immediate distribution The American Nation by Richard J. Pur cell, Ph.D., associate professor of history at the Catholic University of America and at the Sisters’ Col lege, Washington, D. C., with a fore word by Msgr. James H. Ryan, rec tor of the Catholic University. The American Nation is intended as a textbook for Catholic hign schools, preparatory seminaries and junior colleges as well as a survey of American history for the general reader. It is written in a spirit of fairness which knows no North or South. It is conservative but mod ern in tone. Of standard high school size, The American Nation includes all the material of a secular nature which is found in the ordinary text. In addition it stresses the growth of the West, the South, immigration, nativism, the contribution of immi grant peoples, the growth of the Catholic church, and as far as space permits the contribution of Catholics in the development of American life. Dr. Purcell, a graduate of St. Thomas College the University of Minnesota, and of Yale university, has just returned from the British Isles where he spent a year as a Guggenheim Fellow making a study of Irish emigration to the United States which will eventually appear in book form. He is well known to readers of The Bulletin, having con tributed to its columns several arti cles he prepared especially for it. One fact brought out of the last election was the extraordinary vote given to Mr. Smith in the state of Georgia, as recently attested by Mr. Richard Reid of the Georgia Lay men’s Association. Georgia belongs to the South and was the birthplace of the Klan. Like many of the southern states, Georgia was over run with intolerance, misinformation and ignorance until the Laymen’s Association was formed to face in tolerance with facts, ignorance with truth and misinformation with cor rect teaching. The Georgia Lay men’s Association overcame every obstacle, surmounted every diffi culty to make the Catholic church and her teachings better known. The result of that work became evident last November when the overwhelm ingly Protestant state of Georgia voted for Smith the Democrat and gave no heed to his religion. In our opinion it was the greatest \jctory for tolerance ever registered in American history. And we may add, in our opinion, the greatest moral victory for a group of laymen ever evidenced since the Cross of Christ was first planted in the soil of the Western world. Here in the North, our Catholic men talk about what should be done. They talk but never do it. They leave it to the Catholic priest or the Catholic paper to promote that spirit of tolerance which they by their lay activity could accomplish in a more effective way. They permit us to stand with our backs to the wall while they sit home in comfort to discuss what could or should be done. We have the Knights of Co lumbus in our northern cities. What do the local Knights of Columbus do to actively' promote the virtue of tie head beneath her new white veil.” Let us continue then, my dear friends, the account of my conver sation with the beloved sister of St. Therese. We stopped last issue at Pauline’s answer to my question. “Did the sisters or did you recog nize the Little Flower during her life time as a saint?” Next I asked her whether there was anyone who saw in the Little Flower as a girl such signs of sanc tity that would lead him to guess that she might one day be a saint. She answered, "Well, Father, you know that the very nature of her little way would preclude anything that would be very ostentatious but, nevertheless, there were some peo ple who guessed and declared her sanctity,” and then she told me the following anecdotes: One day in the Little Flower's girl hood a pious old lady who had ob served the Little Flower closely in church with Pauline and who had seen, during the procession, the Lit tle Flower’s great eyes in ecstacy in the presence of the Blessed Sac rament said to Pauline as they left the church, “That little sister of yours is an angel. I will be very much surprised if she stays long on this earth, but if she lives, mark my words, you will see that she will be spoken of some day as a saint.” Another time in the Little Flow er’s girlhood an old laborer who came to work at the Little Flower’s home insisted when he was leaving that Pauline give him a lock of the Little Flower’s hair, which he said he would hold precious for it would one day be the relic of a saint. "Often,” Pauline said, ..when I was on the streets of the town with Little Therese, the passers-by would turn fascinated to look long at the Little Flower, not so much because of her physical beauty but because of the celestial charm that seemed to radiate from her person.” Pauline said, too, that the doctor who attended the Little Flower to wards the end of her life said one day to Pauline, “Oh, you do not know how much she suffers; never in all my experience have I seen any one suffer so much or with such expression of supernatural joy.” Then he added positively, “C’est un ange”—"she is an angel." The chaplain, Pauline said, who came to hear the Little Flower’s last confession was tremendously im pressed to see her so beautiful and even transfigured in the midst of her excruciating pains. He looked upon her with the greatest rever ence and later declared that he en tered the infirmary as if it were a sanctuary, and he said to Pauline as he left, "Quel ange! (What an angel!) She is absolutely confirmed in the grace of God.” These then are some of the recog- ntions of the Little Flower’s sanc tity from those who knew her when she was alive. Then I asked Mother Agnes to set tle a much disputed question, name ly: the question of the color of the Little Flower’s eyes. “Her eyes,” said Pauline, “were not exactly blue but bluish.” She used a French word which signifies a color between green and blue, although she said that those who did observe closely thought her eyes vere blue. "She was tall,” Pauline tolerance? We have our Holy Name Societies, our Knights of St. John and others. What did they do in 1928 to spread truth locally about what the Catholic church teaches or does not teach? Let us face facts. Down in Georgia, a group of lay men spent their time and their money to quash bigotry. They succeeded. Here in Buffalo—the enlightened North—our Catholic man’s concept of organization is banquets, break fasts, entertainments and sports. If ■—and mark this statement well—one half the money that is spent on the Gatholic stomach at banquets was put into’the spread of Catholic truth by our Catholic laymen, New York as well as Georgia could be class ed among the states where tolerance actually exists. We bemoan the presence of bigotry in our cities yet what are we doing to enlighten the ignorant non-Catholic man or wom an? Are we content to sit back and permit intolerance to smoulder un til another occasion arises for us to get up in arms? Is it not true that we have ourselves to blame for the ignorance and intolerance that exist? Is it necessary for the Catholics of the large northern states to take their lesson from little Georgia? They may do that. They may do more. Th.ey may select the leaders of the Georgia Laymen’s Association to come north to instruct us how they accomplished an apparently impos sible feat in a community largely Protestant. And what more interest ing and consoling work for Catho lic laymen to engage in—the victory over intolerance, the defeat of the common foes of truth? Let us be up and doing—not with a political mo tive in view but the larger and the more spiritual motive of spreading truth at any cost. said, "her hair was blond, her com plexion lily-like. . She had a small mouth and fine regular features and she walked with a certain dignity which was at once simple and ma jestic. "But,” she said, “the most remarkable feature of her appear ance was a certain expression on her countenance, an expression of charm and serenity and heavenly peace, which impressed all even from her girlhood.” By the way, all the others with whom I talked who had known the Little Flower as a girl spoke of this charming, peaceful expression. Then I asked Pauline for a mes sage to the members of the Little Flower Society. She thought a while, then asked, "Would they really be interested ina message from me?” I said, "Of course they would be, Mother; they would be tremendously interested.” "I do not know what to say,” she answered, "could you tell them that I will pray especially ror them?” I said, “No, Mother, they already know that you Carmelite Sisters pray for all the world.” "But I will pray particularly for them, the members of the Society.” "But could you not send them some more personal message, some thing that will be less general and more concrete, some spiritual coun sel or advice?” Then there was a pause and then she said and I was careful to write each word, "Tell the ladies of the Little Flower Society of America that if they would please the Little Flower and win her favor, they must not follow the fashion when the fashion demands immodest or indecent dress.” I thanked Mother Agnes and then said to her, "That is a message, Mother, for only part of the society because a large proportion of the Little Flower Society consists of men. Would you send a message also to men?” That amused her. "I,” she said, “a cloistered nun, send a message to the men?” Then she laughed. It was a laugh such as I imagine the Little Flower’s must have been soft and musical and whole-hearted, although restrained. The Little Flower would probably have been similarly amused if during her life time she had asked to send a mes sage to the men of distant Amer ica. But I was quite insistent and so after a long pause there came Pau line’s message to the men. "Tell the men of the Society of the Little Flower that if they would please St. TheAcse and win her favor, they must hold themselves aloof from all that is low and base and ignoble and go to Holy Communion frequently.” I left the Carmelite convent that afternoon walking on air, for I had talked nearly an hour with the be loved sister of the Little Flower. Later on I had a second interview with her during which she gave me the precious relics of which you have all heard. (Next issue Father Dolan wil tell of his second visit with Sister Pau line and of how he persuaded her to let him talk with the other two sisters of St. Therese, Marie and SeTTne.) (Continued from Page One.) the Catholic church many dis tinguished members of the church of England, among whom the most not ed was John Henry Newman, the writer, who finally became a Cardi nal. Another Civil war veteran to enter the Catholic faith was James Kent Stone, whose father was the Episco palian rector of St. Paul’s church in Brookline. After serving in the war as lieutenant, and returning to be graduated from Harvard, Mr. Stone became an assistant professor of Latin at Kenyon college, Gambier, Ohio, and later, at Hobart college. When he joined the Catholic church he became one of the Passionist fath ers under the name of Fidelis of the Cross. Orestes A. Brownson, long a prom- intent theologian, was, another dis tinguished convert. He was born in Stockbridge in 1803, and was for a time a Universalist, and later a Unitarian minister. In 1844 he be came a Catholic and edited Brown- son’s quarterly, a tneological publica tion, for many years. Before he joined the Catholic faith he was in terested in the ideas of Robert Owen, the British manufacturer who found ed experimental colonies in various Western states. Probably the most distinguished convert of all was, like Prof. Lord, not a native of New England. Thomas I. Hecker, founder of the Paulist order, was born in New York. Yet before his conversion he was interested in the Brook Farm colony in West Roxbury, where the great New Englanders of the day were attempting an experiment much like those of Robert Owen in the West. The Paulist order, founded by Fr Hecker after his con version and ordination, was made up chiefly of converts to the faith. The career which Professor Lord gave up to enter the priesthood was as distinguished as any to which a teacher could attain. A native of Plano, 111., he studied for two years at Northwestern University, and then at Harvard. In 1906 he was graduated magna cum laude. During the following years he was a stu dent in Berlin, Vienna and Moscow. At Harvard he became an instruc tor in 1910, assistant professor in 1916, and full professor in 1924. There is probably no American teacher who has more knowledge of Russian and Polish history than Professor Lord. When President Wilson went to Paris after the armistice, Professor Lord went with him as a technical adviser to the American commission to negotiate peace, and became chief of the department of Polish af fairs. It was in this position that he gained the reputation of having "determined the boundaries of mod ern Poland.” The problem was ex ceedingly difficult, for Poland, Which had not been a nation for more than a century, and had been divided be tween Russia, Prussia and Austria, had once held huge territories. There was a wild confusion of claims and counter claims, and it was very difficult to draw the lines on a population basis. As Dr. Lord later told his Har vard classes, it was difficult to tell, on the Eastern border, where the population left off being Poles and began being white Russians. To the east the people were more Rus sian, and to the west more Polish, but it was almost impossible to know where to draw the line. Later Dr. Lord was a member of the in terallied commission to Poland, and, in the Russo-Polish we* in 1920, he was caught for a while behind the Bolshevik lines. Many say that things would have gone hard wit.* him had he been captured, as the Russians were not in agreement with the allies on what the Polish boundaries should be, and naturally would not have looked with favor on the man who drew them. Few among Dr. Lord’s students at Harvard had any sense of the role he played in world affairs. As a lecturer, and in private conversation, his two chief characteristics are per sonal modesty and friendship of manner. He never mentioned his own achievements. His lectures were remarkable for their clarity, and for the obvious desire on the part of the lecturer to be fair and to pre sent accurately sides of public ques tions with which he did not agree. In dealing personally with students he often went to great lengths to help them with scholastic and other problems. His modesty and infor mality of manner did not prevent him from demanding and obtaining a high standard of work. When he announced in February, 1927, that he intended to study for the priesthood, he said he made the decision “as a result of seven years of thought and study. “The more I studied secular his tory the more I realized that religion is the most important cause a man can work for, and that the highest calling for a man free to devote himself to it is the priesthood. “I was led to Catholicism during a trip to France as American represen tative to the Versailles peace con ference. I was impressed with the wonderful administration of the church in France, and through study of its institutions was led to believe in its teachings. “For a long time before my con versation in 1920 I had been studying Catholicism and thinking deeply over religious matters. Finally, after much thought and study, I made up my mind to enter the church. “I received preliminary instruction from Rev. William B. Finigan, ad ministrator of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross at that time and now pastor of the Blessed Sacrament church, Cambridge. “My conversation was due to my own study and tb-ught, and not to outside influence. I began to realize in 1920 that my interests were shift ing to religious matters. The more I studied religion the more I be came convinced of the truth of Catholicism. “While I was very happy in my work at Harvard, and have only the pleasantest memories and associa tions to look back upon during my 16 years of teaching at the univer sity, I have found ever since 1920 that my mind was turning to the idea of Catholicism.” Cardinal Gasquet of England Dies in Rome (Continued from Page One.) bination of the erudite scholar and the capable administrator. In 1900, when 54 years old, he was named Abbot-President of the English Benedictine Congregation and Abbot- Titular of St. Alban’s, Reading, of fices which he filled for the whole of the fourteen years preceding his call to Rome. In 1896 Pope Leo XIII had ap pointed him a member of the Com mission on Anglican Orders and in the following year had addressed a special Brief to him. Pius X made him a consultor of the Pontifical commission for the Zleunion of Dis sident Churches and in 1907 he was named president of the Commission to examine the text of the Latin Vulgate Bible and collect material for amending it. Cardinal Gasquet was a most pro lific writer, mainly on historical subjects, and his supremacy as an authority on pre-Reformation mon- asticism in England was generally conceded. Some of his principal works are; "Monastic Life in Eng land,” "Henry. VIII and the English Monasteries,” "The Eve of the Re formation, "The Old English Bible,” "A Sketch of Monastic Constitu tional History,"Edward VI and the Book of Common Prayer,” "The Last Abbot of Glastonbury,” "The Greater Abbeys of England,” "A History of the Venerable English College at Rome" and "The Re ligious Life of King Henry XI.” He also edited "Lord Acton’s Letters,” and a fine edition of Montalambert’s “Monks of the West.” Active Until Death. London—Evidence .that Cardinal Gasquet, woh died in Rome on April 5, retained his physical energy and mental clarity to the end is re vealed by receipt here, this week, of manuscripe written entirely in the Cardinal’s hand of a 9,000-word article which he wrote for a spe cial issue of The Universe. The edition is to be published April 12, commemorating the centenary of Catholic Emancipation in England. It is believed that Cardinal Gas quet will be buried at Downside Abbey, where the site for his tomb was marked out several years ago. Revolution Fails to Enlist Catholic Aid Saenz Says (Continued from page one) Jose Gonzalo Escobar, rebel comman der. Dispatches from Naco, Sonora, said two federal aviators were killed when their bombing plane was blown to bits under fire of besieging rebel ma chine gunerrs. Destruction of the plane left the garrison without de fense against rebel bombers and the besiegers were quick to take ad vantage of the situation. Rebel planes soared over Naco, dropping bombs, but the damage was said to be slight. U. S. Aviators Aid Rebels. From reports received here frolQ the border, from Chihuahua and from the West Coast it appears that the rebels have been far superior in the air. This is attributed to the fact that many American aviators are serving with the rebel armies. Fif teen Americans were reported to be in the air service of Escobar at Jim enez and many others on the West Coast, where their operations have ben particularly effective. Very Rev. Benedict J. Rodman, S. J., president of John Carroll Uni versity, Cleveland, has announced plans for new university buildings to cost in the neighborhood of $2,. 500,000.