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MAY 25, 1940
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
Bishop O’Hara Essay Contest Veteran Organist at Macon Church Is Honof i
Kitty Lawrence, Mt. St. Joseph’s, Augusta, Awarded
First Prize for Best Essay Submitted From White
Parochial Schools—Pupil of St. Peter Claver’s School,
Macon, Submits Best Essay From Colored Parochial
Schools
SAVANNAH, Ga. — Announce-
ment is made by the Right Reverend
Monsignor T- James McNamara, Dio
cesan Superintendent of Schools,, for
the Diocese of Savannah-Atlanta, that
the first prize in the annual Bishop
O'Hara Essay Contest, for the best
essay submitted on the subject, “What
a Catholic Education Means to Me”,
by a pupil of a white parochial school
of the Diocese, was awarded to Kit
ty Lawrence, of Augusta.
Miss Lawrence is the daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. C. K. Lawrence, Jr.,
and is a student at Mt. St. Joseph
Academy, conducted by the Sisters
of St. Joseph of Carondelet.
The first prize for the best essay
submitted by a pupil of a colored
parochial school of the Diocese was
awarded to Lois Huff, of St- Peter
Claver’s School, Macon, conducted by
the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament.
The contest was open to children
attending the seventh and eighth
grades of the parochial schols. Hon.
Thomas F. Walsh, K. S. G., Savan
nah. acted as judge, and the district
chairmen were the Rev. Phillip Ben
edict Rettger, O- S. B., Savannah; the
. Rev. J. E. O Donohoe, S. J. Augusta;
the Rev. Peter MsDonnell, S. J., Ma-.
con
The prize-winning essay follows-
WHAT A CATHOLIC EDUCATION
MEANS TO ME
By Kitty Lawrence
Mt. St. Joseph's, Augusta
In my school I am being taught to,
know, love and serve God, thereby
justifying the reasons for my exis
tence in this world.
My Catholic Education offers me a
scholastic training as rich, as full and
as effective as any public school edu
cation offers. Dominating, animating
and vitalizing it is the religious train
ing.
Every faculty of the mind, the affec
tions, the interest an dthe will is ex
ercised and strengthened so that the
whole soul is developed. Our teachers
know that if knowledge is not accom
panied by grace that knowledge be
comes a curse instead of a blessing.
The presence of the religious teacher
and the very atmosphere of the class
room enables me to make Christ
a living part of my daily life and
work. In my everyday life when little
trials come up I am encouraged to of
fer them up so that when I have
greater difficulties I can accept them
in the same spirit of resignation and
faith as coming from God. If this ha
bit is formed now it will help me
keep Our Lord close to me in what
ever occupation I find myself.
I am in the Holy Angel Sodality and
the Holy Childhood Association to
make me parish-minded in later
years-
, The Commandments of God and the
Precepts of the Church form a plan
or, pattern by which I am taught to
live. “Thou shalt” and "Thou shalt
not" leave no room for doubt.
I am taught to train my intellect
and will .to be quick to detect and re
sist temptation.
I am being taught to realize only a
character strong as steel and based
on religious faith and principles can
win out in the battle of life. In later
life I will have to. do m^y things I
do not want to do and m;\ .fe will be
well worth living and the sooner
I learn that lesson the better for
me and all those whose welfare
hold in my hands.
■ If with the help of my Catholic
Education I have such a character, my
life will be' a success in God’s sight.
As Father Vaughan says, “Nothing
matters but character, in social life
you are a resisting card, in politics
you are only a vote, in traveling you
are only a ticket, in a hotel you are
a number, but before God you are
a character-
My Catholic Education ■ not only
teaches me to make a living but to
live an ideal Christian life-
had been talking that morning had
made me, and had made me because
He lover me, and I would be good
and love Him, someday, I would go
to Heaven and be happy with Him
forever. She told us that we not only
had our little bodies but inside of us
we also had a beautiful, white soul
and if we were naughty, told lies,
stole things, etc., we would soil
this pretty soul and then it would not
be so pretty when we went to
God.
Oh, how wonderful! Then, 1 was
not just an ordinary little colored girl.
There was something beautiful about
me and a great big Person, named
God, loved me very much.
One day Sister said that the chil
dren who wished to become Catholics
and had their parents’ consent should
r emain after school for a little while-
I actually flew home to get my moth
er's consent. While my mother did
not exactly know what it was all
about she had seen such a big change
in me and she gladly gave her con
sent. I became a Catholic.
What a tremendous effect all this
had on my studies. I studied my
lessons, did my homework, tried to
learn better, because I knew it was
the thing that God wanted me to do.
My mother used to question the chil
dren from the other schools and she
always said that I knew all the things
the other children knew and a lot
more.
I am now in the eighth grade and
in June I will leave the Catholic
school forever, as there is no Cath
olic High School for me to attend, but
I am taking something with me that
will sustain me all my life—my Cath
olic Education in the Elementary
School.
- ^
I
’ i,.
WHAT A CATHOLIC EDUCATION
MEANS TO ME
By Lois Huff
St. Peter Claver’s, Macon
Tell in about five hundred words
what a Catholic Education means to
me. Five'thousand words would not
be sufficient to tell all a Catholic
Education has meant to me, but I will
just give you some idea.
I am a little colored girl. Neither
my father nor my mother are Catho
lics. My mother has. always been
most anxious that I turn out to be a
nice, polite, young lady so she watch
ed very closely the little girls that
come from the other schools in my
neighborhood. She noticed some
thing in the Catholic children that
seemed to be lacking in the other
children, yet I do not think the
thought of God entered her head
when I first came to the Catholic
School.
I started in the first grade knowing
nothing further than the fact that I
was an ordinary colored child coming
to school to learn and write. The
first thing that happened was that
the children joined their hands, clos
ed their eyes and began talking to
someone Whom they must have loved
very much,, judging from the sweet
expressions on their faces. When I did
not forget it, I used to say, “Now I
lay me down to sleep, etc.,” but it
did not mean any more to me than
the rhymes in the Mother Goose
Story Book-
During the day, Sister told Us a
story. That story will never be for
gotten. The God to .Whom the children
JUNE ENGAGEMENTS
OF BISHOP O’HARA
Chancellor’s Office of Dio
cese of Savannah-Atlanta
Announces Schedule
(Special to The Bulletin)
. SAVANNAH, Ga.—The Office of
the Chancellor of the Diocese of Sa
vannah has announced the following
schedule of engagements for the Most
Rev. Gerald P. O’Hara for the month
of June;
Monday, 3rd
..4:30 p. m. Preside at graduation
exercises Boys' Catholic High School,
Augusta.
6:30 p. m. Preside at graduation
exercises Mount Saint Joseph’s Acad
emy, Augusta.
• Tuesday, 4th
7:30 a. m. Celebrate Low Mass for
graduates of Saint Vincent's Acad
emy, Saint Vincent Academy Chapel,
Savannah.
5:00 p. m. Preside at graduation
Saint Vincent’s Academy, Cathedral,
Savannah.
Thursday, 6th
5:00 p. m. Preside at graduation
exercises Sacred Heart Parochial
School, Savannah.
8:30 p. m. ■ Preside at graduation
exercises. Benedictine Military School,
Savannah.
Friday, 7 th
4:00 p. m. Preside graduation exer
cises Cathedral Parochial School, Ca
thedral, Savannah.
Sunday, 9th
Preside at combined graduation of
Saint Benedict’s and Saint Mary's
Schools, Savannah, in Saint Bene
dict’s Church, Savannah, 6:00 p. m.
8:00 p. m. Preside at commence
ment exercises St. Thomas’ School.
Tuesday, 11th
5:00 p. m. Preside at annual meet
ing of Board of Directors of Saint
Mary’s Home at' Saint Mary’s Home,
Savannah.
Tuesday, 18th
Address Convention of Catholic
Hospital Association, St. Louis Mis
souri.
Friday, 28th
Address Institute for Catholic Chap
lains of Penal Institutions National
School of Social Service, Washing
ton, D. C.
Professor J. G. Weiss (right) at a jubilee banquet when dignitaries, of church and state gathe,,
bute to 60 years of faithful service as organist and choir director at St. Joseph’s.Church (shown in
jubilee cake). Shown with Professor Weiss are Bishop O'Hara, (center) and his pastor the Rev ”
S, J, (left). ’
ORGANIST AT MACON
CHURCH SIXTY YEARS
Professor J. G. Weisz Has
Directed St. Joseph’s Choir
Since 1880
Peter
President of Georgia W. C. T*
Directs Letter to Bishop O’Hara
Mrs. Mary Harris Armor Graciously Expresses
at Misprint in Article Appearing in Atlanta Net
paper—Commends Catholic Effort Against Ir^lecej
Literature
MR. HENRY P. WRIGLEY
DIES IN .MACON
MACON, Ga.—Funeral services for
Henry P. Wrigley, who died May 4.
after an illness of several months’
were held from St. Joseph’s Church!
the Rev. Peter McDonnell, S. J., of
ficiating.
Mr. Wrigley was born in Macon
and had made this citv his home dur
ing his life. He was a conductor for
the Georgia, Southern and Florida
Railway,- until his retirement some
months ago.
He is survived by his wife, the for
mer Miss Margaret Fitzgerald; a son
Henry Wrigley, Jr., of Rome; a
granddaughter, Margaret Wrigley,
Rome; and two sisters. Mrs. M g’
Earth Macon, and Mrs. W. W. Kim
ball, Orkney Springs, Va.
THE CATHOLIC HOUR radio pro
gram, produced by the National Coun
cil of Catholic Men, was praised as
a “very timely and valuable as well
as devotional service” in a letter re
ceived at the headquarters of the N.
C. C. M., in Washington, from the
Radio Committee of the American
Association of University Women,
Madison, Wisconsin. Branch. ...
(Special To The Bulletin)
MACON, Ga. — Members of the
parish of St. Joseph’s Church paid
tribute to Professor J. G. Weisz, who
during the past week completed sixty
years of service as organist at that
church.
In observance of the jubilee, mem
bers of the parish attended a Pon
tifical Mass celebrated by the Most
Rev. Gerald P. O’Hara, Bishop of
Savannah-Atlanta, and complimented
Professor Weisz with a banquet at
the Hotel Lanier.
The Mass which was sung by the
church choir during the services was
Professor Weisz’s own composition.
William H. Mitchell presided as
toastmaster,. at the banquet, and the
blessing was invoked by Bishop
O’Hara. Greetings to Professor Weisz
were extended by Mayor Charles J.
Bowden; Charles J. Bayne, associate
editor of The Macon Telegraph;
Martin J. Callaghan, on behalf of the
parish; and by Mrs. Hal C. King,
dean of the Macon Chapter of the
American Guild of Organists.
Professor Weisz, who was bom in
Cambrai County, Pennsylvania, cele
brated his eighty-third birthday
February 12. He came to Macon in
September, 1879 and became the or
ganist at St. Joseph's Church. May
16, 1880. Mrs. Mellon Loh and Mrs.
Maggie Donohue are the only surviv
ing members of original choir which
he organized when he became direc
tor assumed the direction of music
at the church sixty years.ago.
In 1873 he entered St. Vincent's
Abbey, La’trobe, Pa., and obtained
permission from Father Ignatius, O. S.
B., director of music, to study the
piano. Father Melchior, who died
few months ago in North Carolina
was his tutor. After two years with
the piano he took up the organ, com
pleting his study at the Boston Con
servatory of Music.
In 1876 he returned to Nicktown
Pa., where his family was now lo
cated. and became the organist at
St. Nicholas Church, when the regu
lar organist was forced to retire be
cause of illness. Later he went to
St. Michael's Church. Latrobe, where
he .introduced the Gregorian chant.
Accepting an offer from Pio Nono
College, he came to Macon in 1879,
where he was instructor in Latin,
German and arithmetic as well as
music.
During the years that followed, in
addition to his college* work he play
ed the organ at old St. Joseph’s
Church, where Father Bazin was then
pastor. When the Jesuits took over
Pio Nono College and the pastorate
of the church he continued to serve,
under the Rev. John Quinlan, S. J_!
the Rev. Joseph Winklereid. S. J„ the
R'ev. Thomas Madden, S. J., the
Rev. J. B. Frankhouser, S. J.. the
Rev. W. A. Wilkinson, S. J.. the Rev.
F. J. Clarkson, S. J.. and the Rev.
Peter McDonnell, S. J., the present
pastor.
The present St. Joseph’s organ is
probably the best in the State of
Georgia. The old organ is now in
use in Spring Hill College Chapel.
Ia *V«cenf .issue;at The, Souths
(Special to The Bulletin)
SAVANNAH, Ga.—His Excel
lency, the Most Reverend Gerald
P. O’Hara, Bishop of Savannah-
Atlanta, has received a most cor
dial letter from Mrs. Mary Harris
Armor, Honorary President of
the Georgia Women’s Christian
Temperance Union, explaining
that through a misprint, a col
umn which Mrs. Armor edits in ah
Atlanta newspaper declared that
the W. C. T. U. of Augusta had
united with a committee to "stop
the circulation of literature spon
sored by Catholics” when it was
intended to state that the W. C. T.
U. was cooperating in the sup
pression of indecent literature by
participating in a campaign spon
sored by the National Council of
Catholic Women.
In her letter Mrs. Armor took
occasion to commend the efforts
which Catholics are making to
combat the circulation of indecent
itcrature, and against offensive
motion pictures.
Mrs. Armor's letter follows:
My dear Bishop O’Hara:
Through a printer’s mistake in a
column which I edit in the Atlanta
Constitution I was made to say that
the W- C. T- U. women of Augusta
had united with a committee to stop
the circulation of literature sponsored
by the Catholics! I am greatly dis
tressed over this because the W. C. T.
U. as an organization, . and 1 myself
personally, are truly grateful for the
work your great church is doing
against indecent literature and not for
anything would I have made such a
statement. My column only appears in
the Constitution in the Sunday edi
tion. This misstatement occurred last
Sunday and is corrected (that is if
they print my statement as I am .sure
they will) in next Sunday’s issue.
What I really said waS: “The three
Augusta unions cooperated with the
committee for the suppression of in
decent literature, a movement spon
sored by the Catholics.”
I called a Catholic friend of mine
here and asked her to whom I should
explain the situation in order to un
do, so far as it is possible to do so,
the harm this printer's error might
do. She "ad,vised me to write you.
I beg of you if you ever head any
thing of this to let them know that
our organization is heartily in sym
pathy with your movement against
indecent ltierature.
We also _ greatly rejoice in what
you did to remove obscenity
screen.
I have the honor to be,
Most sincerely
MARY HARRIS ARl
Jesuit there was published an article
recounting incidents of the long years
of association which Professor Weisz
had had with members of the Order,
and which said that while pastors
and assistants had come and gone,
Professor Weisz had remained a t St.
Joseph’s, a bond as it were between
one decade and another, and tha t the
relations that have existed between
him and the priests and people, had
been one of the great blessings of
the parish.
SOCIAL ACTIVITY
AT ST, GENEVI^!
Series of Entertainnu:
Given for Graduation CL
• ."V'
ASHEVILLE, N. C. — Th sch
year of 1939-1940 is almost- ov
the students at St. Geneviei
Pines, and they have many :
scholastic events filling th,j
weeks. Two parties for the
Graduates were given by otl
es recently: the Fr,
ed them with a tea
and the Sophomores with!
supper on May 2. Banquets'
the High School and College j
ates were given by lower i
on May 14 and May 23, resp
Among visitors at the seho
the past month were two pii
the eastern part of the sta
O'Sullivan Byrne, of*ths
Missions, and Rev. Francis I
pastor at Goldsboro. Withil
days, the diocesan superinta
education, Rev. Robert Msc*
expected to visit the institut|
Reception of new sodal
by the Children of Mar
the ceremony being pr
procession to the grotto, \
sermon was delivered by I
John Manley, of Nazareth,
the services the members wei
tained with a program of son
violin selections, following wail
freshments were served . j
A Stardust Ball was given by
college students and academy gra-J
ates in the Auditorium of the -'ll
on May 10. The silver anti bine
coratiojis, glittering stars, and “
Dipper ’ punch bowls combined v
gay music to make the affair a
pleasure for the young ladies,
their escorts. The gracious dignity
those who attended attracted mu|
favorable comment.
All the classes of the Acadei,
preparing for Field Day. The ]
for this event are often in
with tennis games, as a tou
in progress. The wmncrsj
Day, and the tennis
receive trophies at Commenoein- i
The Most Reverend Eugene 3
Guinness, Bishop of Raleigh,
preside at the Graduation Ext:
of the College and Grammar £
on June 3, and will preach the
calaureate Sermon at the Mu.;
June 4. The Academy Grjo
will be held the evening '
On Alumnae Day, June 5,
bers of past and present C
ments will gather once me
school for a luncheon at v
of iaierest to all will
and aid