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APRIL, 27, 1929 THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION-OF GEORGIA 7 Fr. Dolan Tells of Second Visit to Oldest Sister of St. Iherese Marist Cadets and the Foch Memorial Mass N. Carolina Religions Drama “O! death where is thy sting? O! grave where is thy victory.” MRS. JANE A.’ ADKINS. J Father Dolan tells, In the accompanying article, of this place of girlish devotion of St. Therese. The closing scene from a religious drama, ‘‘Portia to Christ” whlct was presented by the pupils of the Sacred Heart Academy, Belmont, N. C* recently. By Kev. Albert H. Dolan, O. Carm., National Director, Society of the Little Flower. No. V. THE SECOND VISIT WITH PAD- LINE. Last issue I completed the story ef my first visit with the sister of the Little Flower, Pauline. For many reasons I wanted a second in terview with her and I wanted, of course, also to talk with her other two Carmelite sisters, Marie and Ce line, who, you remember, are Sis ters in the same convent in which the Little Flower lived. I know that that would be very difficult and con sequently I planned a little strategy. After my visit with Pauline I waited ten days in Lisieux and in that time I made three powerful friends. One was the Sisters’ Chap lain. The second was the famous Pierre, the guardian of the Little Flower’s tomb. He had been mirac ulously cured years ago, by the in tercession of the Little Flower, of an illness that was thought to be incurable and he has since been the guardian of the tomb. No one is closer to the Little Flower’s sisters than Pierre, because he performs all their errands for them and has absolute charge of the chapel and of the tomb. The third friend was one Mademoiselle Violette, the guar dian of the Little Flower’s home, the home in which she lived throughout her girlhood. Mademoiselle Viol ette is a sister of one of the Little Flower’s novices, Sister Mary of the Trinity, who is still living in the Convent of Lissieux. I couldn’t have chosen more powerful friends, and I needed them in order to obtain what I wanted from Pauline. When after the ten days I judged the time to be opportune, I wrote a letter to Mother Agnes Pauline, asking three favors. The first was this: I asked her to give not to me personally, but to the American Na tional Shrine in Chicago, to be the property of the Society of the Lit tle Flower, the rarest of all Little Flower relics, namely, a portion of her remains. Finally, about 12:15 or 12:30 o’clock, the landlady insisted that I go downstairs and eat. I was scarcely seated in the dining room When the Sister Portress entered the inn looking for ‘‘Pere Dolan, the American Carmelite Priest.” She did not have to look long, for I saw her first, and was at her side in a jiffy. m She said, Voulez-vous, mon Pere, venir au parloir a une heure parler avec Mere Agnes?” which means, “‘Would Father please come to the parlor at 1 o’clock tp speak with Mother Agnes?” Would I? I certainly would, I told her, although I regretted I could not say in French, “I hope to tell you I will.” I made for the door with the Sis ter, but she said, ‘‘You need not come now, Father, you have nearly half an hour.” I replied,. "X know it, Sister, hut I am going to the tomb of the Little Flower first, to ask the intercession of the Little Flower, that Pauline may grant the requests I have ask ed. You may tell Mother Agnes that, it you wish, tell her that I have gone to the tomb to speak to the Little Flower before I go to speak with her.” At the appointed hour I again pulled the bell cord at the street entrance, and this time without any question of delay I was admitted to the parlor before the grills, and af ter a short delay I again heard the door open and again the celestial voice of Pauline, saying, “Deo Gra- tias”—“Thanks be to God.” I echoed sincerely, “Thanks be to God.” Without any preliminary, she said, “Father, I have received your let ter, and here is the relic,” and she turend the little revolving door in the grills. When it had been turn ed, I found on it a box, in which was the relic of the Little Flower, which I had hardly dared to hope to obtain. It was enclosed in a magnificent reliquary made by Pau line’s own hands. I then noticed there was a second relic -— several generous locks of the Little Flow er’s hair. Thinking that there was a mis take, I said, “Mother, there are two relics here.” t Pauline answered, “Yes, you said in your letter you were not asking for anything for yourself, so the relic of the flesh is for the shrine, and the-locks of hair are for you.” Of course I could not thank her. I was not able—but I am sure she understood. I told her that I would not keep it for myself, but would place it in the reliquary with the other relics, which I did later on. She then said that she would be glad to lend us the painting, so the second request was granted, but she made no mention of the third request and talked as if the inter view were closed. Of course, I was greatly disturbed. I did not want to mention the request after having written it, and I temporized, but to no avail. Finally I had to say, "Mother, you have not mentioned the third re quest.” “You mean about speaking with Marie and Celine?” “Yes, Mother,” I answered. “But that is not necessary, Fath er,” she replied, "and, besides, you have been so greatly favored al ready.” “I know, Mother,” I said, "and I do not want you to think I am ungrateful, but I cannot return to America without having interviewed Marie and Celine when I came es pecially to gather first hand infor mation.”- “I myself can give you all the in formation you want concerning Ma rie and Celine,” countered Pauline, “and, besides, they ar§ very busy, Bishop Shahan Heads Catholic Anthropologists (By N. C. W. C. News Service.) Washington.—The Catholic Anthro pological Conference, at its fourth annual meeting, held at the Cathol ic University of America here, re elected the officers who had served in 1928, and increased its executive board from five to nine members, providing that one-third of these shall be elected each year. The officers re-elected are: The Rt. Rev. Bishop Thomas J. Shahan, Rector Emeritus of the Catholic University of America, president; the Rev. Leopold J. Tibesar, A. F. M., of Darien, Manchuria, vice- president, and the Rev. Dr. John M. Cooper, of the Catholic University of America, secretary-treasurer. Those continuing as members of the executive board are the Rev. Francis P. LeBufe, S. J., of the America staff; the Very Rev. Mi chael A. Mathis, C. S. C., Superior of the Foreign Seminary of Holy Cross, Washington, D. C.; the Rev. Albert Muntsch, S. J., of St. Louis University; the Rt. Rev. Msgr. Wil liam Quinn, National Director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, New York, and the Rev. Dr. John M. Wolfe, of Dubuqe, Iowa. The Rev. Joseph Thoral, S. M., of the Marist Seminary, Washington, D. C.; the Rev. Stephen Richarz, of V. D., of St. Mary’s Mission House, Techny, 111.; Dr. Anna Dengel, of the Catholic Medical Mission House, Washington, D. C., and the Very Rev. J. B. Tennelly, S. S., of the Sulpician Seminary, Washington, D. C., were elected new members of the board. and then, as you know, the Carmel ite rule forbids me to give them per mission to come to the parlor except on urgent business.” “This is urgent, is it not, Moth er?” I asked, “when one comes all the way from America expressly to speak with me.” I argued that if they were to come to the parlor for only a short time, it would not ma terially interfere with their work or wiith their'recollection. I continued, "I asked that third request in the Little Flower’s nama and I do not think you will refuse anything asked in her name. If it is not convenient for you to per mit me to interview them this after noon, then please let them come to morrow afternoon or later.” “When are you going to leave Lisieux?” Pauline asked. “That, Mother, depends on you,” I answered. “I cannot leave until I have spoken with Marie and Ce line.” She laughed and said, "Suppose I refuse?” “Well, then, Mother,” I said, “I will come back again in a few days and ask again, on the chance that you may have relented.” "Suppose I refuse again?” she said. “Well, I understand, Mother, that the Bishop of the Diocese has the power to grant such permission, and I have a letter granting me an au dience with him on Friday. If you refuse me, I shall have to go to him, but I am sure you will give in before that.” “You are certainly very preserv ing, Father,” she said. “Yes,” I said, “but so was the Little Flower. You remember, Mother, that she broke all the rules of the Vatican when she spoke to the Holy Father about her vocation during a public audience. You re member that on another occaAon when with Marie she was walking the streets of Lisieux and she want ed to go to Holy Communion before the age established, she saw the Bishop and wanted to speak to him then and there on the street about advancing the date of her first Holy Communion. Perseverance, then, is not such a bad trait, is it?” She laughed and said, “What time is it, Father?” I looked at my watch and answer ed, “Ten minutes after two.” “Wait a moment,” she said, and was gone. In an incredibly short time the door behind the grille again opened and I heard Pauline’s voice saying, “Here, Father, is Marie, and here is Celine,” Non-Catholic Leaves Money to Catholic Institutions (By N. C. W. C. News Service.) Los Angeles.—Several Catholic in stitutions are to benefit under the will of Clara Baldwin Stocker, daughetr of “Lucky” Baldwin, re cently filed for probate. Among 13 institutions that are to share equal ly 13 and one-third per cent of the estate are the Convent of the Good Shepherd, the Los Angeles Orphan Asylum, the Regina Coeli Orphan Asylum and'St. Vincent’s Hospital. Twenty per cent of the estate goes to create a home which it is specified shall be built in Los An geles County and shall be open to Caucasian Protestant women more than 60 years of age who are inca pacitated. In specifying that the home be for Protestant women only, Mrs. Stock er says in her will that it is “for the reason that there are many very wealthy Catholic and Jewish resi dents of Los ngeles County who can and will, I believe, provide similar ities for such elderly women of their charities for such elderly women of their own respective faiths and be cause there seems to be more and better organized charities in Los An geles County among those professing the Catholic and Jewish faith, re spectively, than among those pro fessing the Protestant faith.” REDEMPTORISTS IN HOLLAND Open Their Third Retreat House (By N. C. W. C. News Service) Esopus, N. Y.—The Redemptorists in Holland have recently added a third Retreat House to the two ex isting ones at Amersfort, near Utrecht, and at Seppe, near Breda. The new house, which accommo dates 70 retreatants, is situated at Zenderen near the German border. For the management of household affairs 14 "Little Sisters of St. Jos eph” live in a convent close a hand. The monastery adjoining the Retreat House can accommodate 11 Fathers and five Brothers. During the first five months 35 Retreats were given, attended by 766 men and 1,427 wom en. Monsignor Ryan Recovering. (By N. C. W. C. News Service.) ■Washington.—The Rt. Rev. Msgr. James H. Ryan, Rector of the Cath olic University of America, who has been seriously ill with penumonia at Providence Hospital here, is now out of danger and is making daily progress towards recovery, it was said this morning. Certainly the Church Is misunder stood, and the fault frequently lies not so much with non-Catholics who have been reraed In ignorance of the true Church, but with Catholics who have lost opportunities to offer to non-Catholics spoken or printed ex planations ot their faith.—The Field Afar, Tennessee Honse Rejects “Bible Reading’’ Bill (By N. C. W. C. News Service.) Nashville, Tenn, — Passed by the State Senate, the “Bible bill,” which would require public school teachers to read a passage from the Scrip tures to their classes every day, was defeated by a vote of 41 to 15 in the House in the last few hours of the session. The vote to "table” the bill followed an address by Rep resentative Fletcher Cohn, of Shelby County, who demanded the action “in the name of freedom of consci ence and of religion.” The sponsor of the bill contended there was nothing wrong with the measure. “The thing wrong with this country,” he said, “is that we are getting too far from God.” Cohn, in reply, agreed that "we might be near to God,” but the bill, he insisted, “strikes at a fun damental principle of our govern ment. the separation of Church and State.” Lansing, Mich.—The Harnly Bi ble bill, which provides for the read ing of the Bible in the public chools and for excusing pupils to receive religious instruction elsewhere, has been declared constitutional by At torney General Wilbur M. Brucker, Philadelphia Seminary Collection $368,801 (By N. O W. C. News Service.) Philadelphia.—The annual collec tion in the Archdiocese for the Sem inary of St. Charles Borromeo amounted to $368,801.08, It was an nounced in a report made by the Rt. Rev. Msgr. Hugh L. Lamb, chancellor. Besides the lay solicitors, pastors of country and city parishes were present in the Cathedral chapel when the report was read in the presence of His Eminence, Dennis Cardinal Dougherty. The Very Rev* Joseph M. Corrigan, rector of the seminary, read the report of that institution. Cardinal Dougherty, in an address congratulated the people and clergy on their generosity and directing their attention to its increase from about $30,000 a generation ago. Nuns in Summer Schools. Los Angeles.—More than 30 sisters" have responded to the appeal of Bishop John J. Caldewll for volun teers to conduct vacation schools in the diocese. Daily sessions of the schools will be held for one month beginning July 8. Vatican Treaty Film Shown. Rio de Janeiro. — The Apostollld Nuncio and the Italian Ambassador here invited the government authori ties and members of the diplomatic corps to witness the first showing of the films depicting the concilia tion between the Vatican and Italy* Also Secures Rare Privilege of Conversing With Two Other Living Sisters of the Little Flower in Lisieux Convent Where Sainted Carmelite Died To the Editor of The Bulletin: If I had the talent of description how gladly would I tell of the sol emn, beautiful and impressive cere monies at the Sacred Heart Church last Friday morning in memory of Marshal Foch. The Marist Cadets, so well drilled, did their part, as it was Military High Mass. The taps of the drum and bugle call—Oh! it would take a stronger heart than mine to stay the tears. The choir rendered moving music and Father Cannon’s eulogy of Marshal Foch was indeed a deserved compliment to the deceased .Marshal. In the end the organ pealed fourth me grand old Marseillaise of France while the large concourse left the church.