Newspaper Page Text
SEPTEMBER 28. 1940
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC L AYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
FIVE-A
Spanish Marist Brother Tells
Story of Martyrdom in Spain
An Incident of the Spanish Civil War Is Described in a
Hurricane Damages Savanah Church
Letter Received by Principal of Boys’
Catholic High School, Augusta
AUGUSTA, Ga—In a letter received
recently by Brother Nicholas, princi
pal of the Boys’ Catholic High School
here, is a graphic and heartstirring
account of the martyrdom of one of
the many religious who met their
deaths at the hands of the adherents
of the -‘•Red” cause during the civil
war in Spain.
Brother Teodosio Ruiz Rofo, of the
Academia Castilla, Palencia, writes as
follows:
“In my next letter I shall give
you as much information as I c.Tn
about our martyrs. I am afraid it
shall not be very extensive since most
of the facts are not known-
“Just to give you an example—
Brother Hipolito, our director’s broth
er, was teaching at our College of
Fuencarral, Madrid. He was arrested
along with some other brothers and
brought to the ‘techekas’, which is
the Russian word for a place where
people are killed without previous
trial. (There were thousands of them
throughout Spain)- Afterwards they
were taken to- the ‘Carcel Modelo’
prison, of which a ilteral translation
is ‘model prison’, where there were
some Brothers and a good number
of important personages belonging to
Rightist parties.
“Thus passed the months of August,
September, and October, 1936. You
will recall that by that time our
troops were approaching Madrid, since
on September 29, Toledo had fallen to
the victorious army of Franco, and
the heroes of the AlcaZar had been
rescued. By tlie beginning of No
vember our troops were on the out
skirts of Madrid.
“I suppose the poor prisoners were
cherishing, though their trials were
great, the hope of seeing and em
bracing .their brothers who were
coming to free them. I can quite
easily imagine their feelings, since
they were mine, as I was hiding at
the same time in Alcala de Henares.
“But the Reds, 'udging .that the
Carcel Modelo would be the first
aim of the Nationalist troops ad
vancing to Madrid, since it is situated
in the west of the capital, distributed
all of the prisoners to other places.
Some of our Brothers were taken to
San Anton, a former Salesian College,
others were taken to a prison in the
suburbs -of Madrid. Such was the
case of Brother Angel Hipolito.
“By the middle of October the
guns could be heard in Madrid. Each
passing day the noise was louder and
louder. Then the vibrations could be
felt in the walls, floors of tl houses,
and pavements of the streets. Some
were panic -stricken, all of i . were
exulting with joy, awaiting our libera
tion.
“The Reds took hundreds of their
prisoners to Valencia, to the East, but
things were happening too fast for
their wishes, and they could not af
ford to take all of their captives to
more secure places- Naturally, I am
not stressing points known by you
all, such as the every day -slaughter
of people taken from their homes, it
was very rare when they got to
.prison from the place where they
were arrested, and there were mass
murders of many of them in the
prisons after every air-raid of the
Nationalists, etc. I shall tell you
what happened in the case of Brother
Hipolito.
“It was a cool November day- Over
a hundred men were lined up in the
prison yard. In front of them were
leaders of the Communist party, all
wellarmed. Suddenly, one of them
moved forward- After a few words
of exordium he said in a loud voice
that all those who would cry ‘Long
The hurricane which swept the Atlantic coast last month tore a gaping hole- in the root of St. Patrick's
Church, and the torrential rains which accompanied the wind flooded the interior of the stately old edifice and did
considerable damage. . ■
Live the Republic’! would be free.
“A deep silence followed. All of
them knew quite well what ’Re
public’ meant to every good Spanish
Catholic. The line remained un
changed. Their fate was known to
them. In that group was Brother
Angel Hipolito.
"In the small graveyard of Aravaea,
little village near Madrid-, where part
of the important battle of Brunete
was fought eight months afterwards,
lies in the Peace of the Lord, Brother
Angel”.
Holy Father Praises Jesuits
on Order’s Quadricentennial
Highest Commendation of the Glorious Achievements of
the Society of Jesus Contained in Apostolic Letter
Which His Holiness Addressed to the General of the
. ■ ■ -
Society
MONTE SANO GROCERY
Home of Homemade Ice Cream
Augusta, Georgia
MARKING THE FIFTEENTH anrei-
versary of his appointment as Arch
bishop of Cincinnati, the Most Rev.
John T. McNicholas, O. P., was hon
ored, at a dinner tendered him in his
See city by Charles F. Williams,
prominent Catholic layman, and at
tended by 75 outstanding local citi
zens.
Mr. Williams is widely known for
his benefactions to charitable and
other projects.
Refresh yourself
Pause at the familiar
red cooler for ice-cold
Coca-Cola. Its life, spar
kle and delicious taste
will give you the real
meaning of refreshment.
AUGUSTA COCA-COLA BOTTLING COMPANY
BL MSGR. ENRICO PU’CCt
(Vatican City Correspondent, N,. C.
VV. C- News Service)
VATICAN CITY:—Words of high
est praise for the glorious achieve
ments of the Society of Jesus are con
tained in the Apostolic Letter which
His Holiness Pope Pius XII address
ed to the Very Rev Vladimir Ledo-
chowski, General of the Society, in
commemorating its four hundredth
anniversary.
“Certainly,” the Holy Father wrote,
“you know how We esteem the fam
ily of St. Ignatius, which you have
been governing with care and pru
dence for 25 years. It will not sur
prise you, therefore, if on this occa
sion of the fourth century since our
predecessor of immortal memory,
Paul III, with his Apostolic Letter
riegimini Militantis Ecclesiae. found
ed the Society of Jesus. We desire
to take part in your joys and in your
centenary celebration.
“It is true that this moment of
general torment and anxiety seems to
throw a veil of gloom on this happy
occasion. But this does not prevent
it being a cause of joy for all the
Church. ,
NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS
“Of your Society’s enterprises, We
wish to recall some to memory, at
least summarily and briefly, not only
for Our and your comfort, but also
in order that all persons may render
fervent thanks to God for its achieve
ments and see in it a good omen
for future progress.
“Doubtlessly difficult were the
time in which your Legislator and
Father was introduced into the world.
On one part an ardent passion for
the thought and culture of the an
cient pagans inflamed the spirits so
deeply that often Christian Doctrine
was disdained, or was distorted and
corrupted. Thus many persons,
sometimes even those who should
have been of example to others, had
fallen into relaxation of customs and
ecen into open disorder and moral
perversion.
“But in those terrible moments a
marvelous phenomenon took place.
Jesus Christ, Himself, seemed to come
to the salvage of His Church. As if in
a new springtime, there arose in the
Church’s garden marvelous flowers
of sanctity. Men and women, mar
vels of Christian . virtue, arose as
barriers against the overflowing tide
of impiety.
“Now everyone knows that in the
number of these Saints, Ignatius of.
Loyola has a glorious place. Like
other Saints in other times of stress,
God called upon St. Ignatius and his
Society to face the errors of that lime.
In the course of these four centuries,
the followers of your Legislator and
Father have fought with unconquer
able spirit against the rising of new
errors.
DEFENSE OF FAITH
“We know that your Society since
its origin has always dedicated itself
with all its forces to the defense of
the integrity of the Catholic faith
against all sopisms and errors, to the
revindication of the rights of the
Church and to the propagation of the
Christian religion in all the world.
“In all its fields of activity, who
ever should glance, even hurriedly,
through your annals would find an
abundance of events worthy of being
written in letters of_g°id in the rec
ords of the Church.
“It is here that come to Our mind
the names of such glorious Saints
as Peter Canisius Robert Bellarmine,
whom Our immediate predecessor
proclaimed Doctors , of the Church
and who, with wisdom of words and
writings, confused deniers of Cath
olic Doctrine; the names of Peter
Claver, John Francis Regis and Fran
cisco de Geronimo, who, with enlight
ened zeal and untiring work,, either,
brought men in uncountable numbers
back to Christ or to a life more con
forming to Catholic Faith. Lastly,
names such as Francis Borgia and
Guiseppe Pignatelli.
“Nor did the great heart of Ignatius-
fail to turn to distant peoples, as
did that of that glorious son of Ig
natius, Francesco Saverio, whom our
predecessors proclaimed Apostle of
the Insies and patron of the missions,
and whom so many of your Society
have followed and still follow, giving
themselves everywhere to the apos
tolic work of the missions.
“Nor were legions of martyrs lack
ing in your Society, many of the
members of which after ’ having
spread the Catholic Faith in almost all
regions of the world also shed their
blood for their religion.
EDUCATIONAL ENDEAVORS
“If the enemies of the Divine Re
deemer have persecuted your relig
ious Society with particular hostility,
it is to your praise. Our Saviour had
predicted this persecution • of His
Apostles.
“You, and those of your Society,
have ever 'known top that Jhe fate
of Church and State depends upon
the teaching in the schools. We of
fer praise, therefore, for the number
of institutions you have established
for the study of letters and sciences.
With praiseworthy thought for youth,
you offer such examples as the Holy
Saints, Louis Gonzaga, John Berch-
mans and Stanislaus Kostka.
“You will never tire of promoting
other acts of charity and piety. Your
predecessors have set you examples.
Walk faithfully in their path with
love and steadiness^ and frdkn their
virtues and the sanctity of their lives
you will draw stimulation to imitate
and develop even greater enterpris
es.”
The Holy Father concluded by con
ferring a plenary indulgence on all
who attend Mass and receive Holy
Communion in a Church entrusted to
the care of the Society of Jesus on
September 27, or on such other day
as shall be designated by local Jesuit
authority.
AUSTRIAN ROYAL FAMILY;
TO RESIDE IN QUEBEC
(By N. C. W, C. News Service)
QUEBEC—The Imperial Family of
Austria is expected to take up quar
ters here soon. Preparations have al
ready been made by the Archduke
Charles Louis and the Lady-in-Wait-
ing to the Archduchess Charlotte, the
Countess of Kerssenbrock.
Tha Archduchess Elizabeth, young
est daughter of the Empress, h-13
been enrolled at the Sillery Convent.
At the School of Social Sciences of
Laval University, it was learned that
tire Archdukes Charles Louis and
Itodolphe and Archduchess Charlotte
had expressed their desire to be en
rolled.
It is also reported that the Grand,
Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg
and her family may also come to
Quebec.
The Empress Zita was to have taken
up residence at Ottawa, but she pre
ferred to have her children placed in
Quebec institutions- At present the
Imperial Family oE Austria is at
Royalston. Mass-