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FOUR
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
JULY 27, 1946
Hullrtin
The Official Organ of the Catholic Laymen's
Association of Georgia, Incorporated.
“ HUGH K.INCHLEY, Editor •
216-217 Southern Finance Building, Augusta, Ga.
ASSOCIATION OFFICERS FOR 1945-46
BERNARD S. FAHY, Rome President
M. J. CALLAGHAN, Macon • •
Honorary Vice-President
ESTES DOREMUS, Atlanta Vice-President
J. B. McCALLUM, Atlanta Secretary
HUGH GRADY, Savannah Treasurer
HUGH KINCHLEY, Augusta Executive Secretary
MISS CECILE FERRY. Augusta Financial Secretary
A M McAULIFFE. Augusta Auditor
Vol XXXTI JULY 27, 1946 No- 7
Entered as second class matter June 15, 1921 at the
Post Office at Augusta. Georgia, under thd Act of March
3, 1879; accepted for mailing at special rate of postage
provided in paragraph 4. section 538. Postal Laws and
Regulation’; ns modified hv mmcrnph f».
Member of N. C. W. C. News Service. Religious News
Service, the Catholic Press Association of the United
States, the Georgia Press Association, and the National
Editorial Association.
Published monthly by the Catholic Laymen’s Association
of Georgia Inc., with the Approbation of the Most Rev
erend Bishops of Raleigh. Charleston and .Savannah-At
lanta. and of the Right Reverend Abbot-Ordinary of Bel
mont. —
Our American Saint
I N A setting of magnificent splendor, with solemn
and impressive ceremony, before a vast congre-
• gation which filled the massive Basilica of Saint
Peter’s in Rome, His Holiness Pope Pius XII on
the seventh of this month, formally proclaimed the
canonization of Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini.
It was an occasion of deep significance for
American Catholics, for Mother Cabrini was the
first citizen of the United States to be canonized as
one of God’s Saints, and it was an event in the his
tory of the Church in this country that was joyfully
and proudly acclaimed throughout the nation.
One of our own, an American citizen has been
canonized. A feast day in her honor has been
given a place in the ecclesiastical calendar, Masses
may be offered in her honor, and her intercession
may now be implored publicly, for she is one of the
company of the Saints.
The story of the life of Saint Frances Xavier
Cabrini is a story of sanctity and service in our own
country and in our own time, for she passed to her
heavenly reward less than thirty years ago, and al
though the code of Canon Law stipulates that the
apostolic process of beatification should not be
begun less than fifty years after the person’s death,
a special Papal dispensation was granted in the
cause of Mother Cabrini, as it was in the case of
Saint Therese of Lisieux, a generation ago.
Mother Cabrini was born in the village of
Sant' Angelo Lodgiano, in Lombardy, Italy, on July
15, 1850, the youngest in a family of thirteen child
ren. Her parents died when she was in her early
youth, and she grew up under the guidance of an
older sister, who was a teacher.
She became a teacher herself, and later was
in charge of an orphanage. When she sought to be
admitted to a Religious Order, the Bishon of Lodi
suggested that she found a community of her own
instead, so in 1880, she founded the Institute of the
Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, in an aban
doned Franciscan convent at Codogno.
Nine years later, when she was considering a
missionary project in China. Popo Leo XIII told
her that her destiny was ‘‘Not to thp East, my
daughter, but to the West.” and directed her to go
to the United States where Italian immigrants who
were arriving in great numbers were in need of
spiritual and material aid.
With a few companions. she arrived in New
"York, penniless, speaking no English, and expect
ing an orphanage ready to be placed in her charge.
Through some unfortunate circumstances, plans
went wrong, so with the Sisters who had come from
Italy with her, she established her own inslitution,
offerin'* * shelter to orphaned children.
Within n few month : Mother Cabrini and the
six Sisters who had come from Italy with her, were
caring for four hundred children in the orphanage in
the heart of “Little Italy" on the lower East Side
of New York City.
This was the beginning of years of organizating
and building, during which (he frail Italian woman
travel across lands and seas, building schools and
orphanages and hospitals.
In 1903. Mother Cabrini founded in New York
the first of the hospitals to 4m operated by the
Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart. It was
located in lower Manhattan, where it could offer
its ministrations of healing to the Italian-born sick
poor. She gave it the name of Columbus Hospital
in honor of Christopher Columbus, whom she re
garded as, the first of the countless thousands of
Italian immigrants who would come to the Western
Hemisphere.
In 1905. she founded a hospital in Chicago. In
1910, she founded a hospital in Denver In 1914, she
founded a hospital in Seattle These, too. were
named for Columbus, as was her first hospital in
New York.
These, however, were but a few of the institu
tions of mercy and learning which she established.
As monuments to her zeal and her untiring energy
there are schools, hospitals and orphanages in Italy,
France, England, Spain Argentina, Brazil. Nicara
gua, and Panama as well as in the United States.
•She lived to be sixtv-seven years of age. ar.d at the
end of her earthly life it could be said that she had
founded personally sixty-seven institutions, one for
each veer she lived.
Truly. God had bestowed his blessing on her
work. The Institute of the Missionary Sisters of the
Sacred Heart, which she founded, now counts its
members by thousands
It has three novitiates: fourteen colleges, ninty-
cight schools, twenty-eight orphanages, eight hos
pitals, four clinics, three training schools for nurses,
six^ day nurseries, two rest houses, and two houses
of study. It has extended its field of missionary ef
fort to include China, and in this country is rep
resented in the Archdiocese of Chicago, Denver,
Newark, New Orleans, Philadelphia and Los Ange
les, and in the Dioceses of Brooklyn, Natchez, Scran
ton and Seattle.
Though her years of service to God and hu
manity are years of building and construction, years
of enlarging buildings already erected, installing
new equipment, and ever expanding the scope of the
work of her Order, it is not in the terms of material
values that the labors of Mother Cabrini are ap
praised, for her real work was in the spiritual realm,
for human souls, and only God knows its extent and
value.
Monsignor Aristeo Simoni, of the Diocese of
Rockford, the vice-postulator of her cause, tells uS
that she was frail, modest and unassuming, yet tire
less. Her activities, he says, were endless, traveling,
building, teaching, nursing, and while her exterior
life was that of a miraculously successful business
executive, her interior life was one of perfect union
with God, and that rightfully she is called one of
the greatest modern missionaries and the model
of Catholic Action.
His Holiness Pope Pius XII, in the homily de
livered at her canonization, gives us this picture of
Saint Francesca Cabrini:
“She was a humble child who distinguished
herself not by tribute or richnesg or power, but by
virtue. From her tender years she preserved the
whiteness of innocence, maintaining it carefully with
the thorns of penitence; and with the advancement
of years, prompted by an instinct and supernal
ardor, she dedicated her entire life to divine service
and the greater glory of God.
“Although her constitution was very frail, her
spirit was endowed with such singular strength
that, • knowing the will of God in her regard, she
premitted nothing to impede her from accomplish
ing what seemed beyond the strength of a woman.
Thus, with the help of grace, the humble institute of
nuns which she founded in a short time spread
through Italy to America and to many cities of the
world.
“She gathered endangered youth in safe houses,
and taught them right and holy principles, she con
soled the spirit of the imprisoned, giving them the
comfort of life eternal and urging them to resume
the right path and to remake an honest life.
“She consoled the sick and the infirmed gather
ed in hospitals and cared for them assiduously.
Especially to the immigrants, who had left their
own homes behind and who, abandoned by all, were
leading a miserable life or were in constant danger
of losing together with their Christian practice their
faith in the Caholic religion, she extended a friendly
hand, a sheltering refuge, relief and help.
"Whence did this virgin draw so much strength
and indomitable energy, which enabled her to effect
such a vast activity and to overcome difficulties of
a material nature, of travel, of men? Always most
occupied, whence did she receive that serene ap
proach and confidence of goal, without concern for
dangers and the excitement of a stormy life?
“Without doubt from faith, which always reign
ed fervently and vigorously in her hearty from hu
man charity which inflamed her; from incessant
prayer with which she penetrated and obtained from
God, with Whom she was always closely joined, that
which human weakness could not attain.
“Even in the midst of the most assailing cares
and anxieties of life, she strove and aimed toward
this without permitting anything to turn her—to
please God and to work for His glory, for which
nothing seem to her laborious, nothing difficult,
nothing beyond human strength aided by grace.
“In every undertaking her face shone with an
almost celestial serenity and a superior light. The
sisters who followed her as a lawgiver and teacher
were sweetly led to imitate the holy examples of
her life, so that she could make her own the ex
hortation of the Apostle, ‘Imitate me as I imitate
Christ.’ ”
The series of investigations, examinations, bear
ings and judgments in the cause of Mother Cabrini
began in 1928. when the first "informing process"
was held in Chicago, the city in which she became
a naturalized citizen of the United States.
At the-formal inquiry which was initiated in
Chicago, a number of witnesses, among them doc
tors and nurses, testified to the heroic virtues of
Mother Cabrini and gave evidence regarding two
miracles which were attributed to her intercession.
One of the miracles presented as proof of the
sanctity of Mother Cabrini was the story of Peter
Smith, ol New York City, who was blinded soon
after his birth in 1921,-when a nurse, by mistake,
placed a fifty percent solution of silver nitrate in
his eyes instead of the prescribed one per cent
solution. Physicians examined the infant and agreed
thal there was no hope that his sight could be re
stored. but th3 Superior of the hospital, with the
Sisters nnd nurses, offered prayers begging Mother
Cnbrini’s intercession, and the next morning,
physicians who examined the baby's eye were aston
ished to find them completely cured Smith, now
twenty-five years old. served with the Army during
the war. It is understood that he is to study for the
priesthood. ,
The inquiry also verified the remarkable cure
of Sister Delfina Graziola, a member of the com
munity which Mother Cabrini founded in Seattle,
whose recovery from a serious ailment, after prayers
for her had been offered by the Sisters, could not
have been attributed to natural causes, the attending
physicians testified.
Other favors have been reported as having been
granted through Mother Cabrini’s intercession. A
doctor on the staff of the hospital in Seattle is af
flicted with an illness that is declared incurable
yet he fully recovers. A nun in New York is cured
of a heart disease that has been diagnosed as fatal.
A young woman in Italy is cured of meningitis. In
Chicago, a child dying of peritonis, recovers. A ma
rine pi'Guadalcanal swims in the sea all through the
night, after his ship has been sunk, praying to Moth
er Cabrini. whose relic he 'carried, and was safe
ashore in the morning
We who believe in the Communion of Saints
know that we have powerful patrons and interces
sors in all of the heavenly host of the Church
Triumphant, but the canonization of Saint, Frances
Xavier Cabrini gives American Catholics a Saint
who is particularly one of their own, even more so.
perhaps, than are the Jesuit Martyrs who hallowed
the soil of North American with their saintly blood.
She is to us an inspiration and an example,
because she has shown that in our generation, with
all its worldly distractions, and in our own country,
one can become a Saint of God.
When we meditate on her life, and implore
Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini to "pray for us,” it
seems that Heaven is closer to us than it was before.
Dixie
sin&s
Large numbers of Japanese
farmers, ex-soldiers and profes
sional men are knocking at the
door of the monastery of the Cis
tercians of the Strict Observance
in the Province of Hokkaido, Ja
pan, begging to be received into
the Order, only to be told that they
first must become Catholics.
This was related by Abbot Bene
dict Marvan, O. C. S. O., head of-
the monastery, who was a guest
at New Melleray Abbey, Dubuque,
Iowa, after his arrival in this coun
try aboard an American freighter.
“The monastic life has a great
appeal for the Japanese,” the Ab
bot said, "because they are accus
tomed to obeying their elders, they
are hard workers, well disciplined
and they need little food. The
TYappist life of silence and man
ual labor seems natural to them.
Our community is expanding rap
idly and has twice as many postu
lants as before the war.”
Abbot Marvan stated that Chris
tianity has its greatest opportunity
in centuries to bring the Japanese
people into the Church.
After visiting Trappist monas
teries in the United States and
Canada, one of which is the Mon
astery of Our Lady of the Holy
Ghost, at Conyers, Ga., Abbot
Marvan will go to the Motherhouse
in Citeaux, France, to maite a re
port of his Abbey and the two
Trappist convents in the Japanese
islands.
The Trappist abbey in Japan
was founded fifty years aeo by a
French priest, Father Jarard Pouil-
lier, who is still a member of the
community. The monks were the
first to raise cattle in Japan and
taught the natives- about livestock,
Abbot Marvan pointed. The monks
also grow wheat, corn, oats, hay
and potatoes, part of which is
taken by the government. The
Trappist community is self-subsist-
end and feeds and houses many
refugee priests.
In his last illness, Matsuoka asked
to see Father Joseph Flaujac, vet
eran French missionary, whom he
had never met, but whose charit
able works had impressed him.
Dr. Inoue was received in the
Church while she was serving as
an interne at St. Francis Hospital,
Blue Island, 111. ^
Addressing a gathering of the
members of the Georgetown Uni
versity Alumni Association at a
dinner in Washington, D. C., some
weeks ago. Lieutenant General Ira
C. Ealcer, Deputy Commander of
the U. S. Army Air Forces, to the
alumni that while he was serving
in Europe during- the war there
was one instruction which always
was given to the thousands of men
sent out on air missions.
“We told these men,” the Gen
eral said, “that in case thev were
shot down or forced down behind
enemy lines, the first thing they
were to do was to seek out a
priest.”
He remarked that the Army was
confident that in the hands of
priests, stranded airmen v/ould re
ceive the best care possible. He
added that hundreds were given
this aid.
“On behalf of the military,”
General Eaker said. “I wish to pay
my respects to the men of the
Church all over the world for the
outstanding contribution which
they made to victory.”
The caption of the story says “A
Jesuit Brother has Written his
Name Among the Stars,” and the
article, which appears in Jesuit
Missions, published in New York,
notes that before year’s end the
Donohoe Comet Medal will be
awarded to Brother Matthew Tim-
mcr, S. J., by the Astronomical So
ciety of the Pacific for discovery
of the first comet of 1946 and the
first comet ever discovered in the
Vatican Observatory at Castel
Gandolfo.
The article is written by the
Rev. Walter J. Miller, S. J., of the
staff of the Observatory. It re
cords that Brother Timmer,
seventh child in a family of nine,
came from Spaubcek, Holland. lie
entered the Society of Jesus in
1935 at the age of 27 and pursued
his vocation to help the Jesuit
Fathers by using his talents as a
machinist and electrician. When
the Papal observatory was moved
from Rome to Castel Gandolfo,
Brother Timmer was sent there
in November, 1938, to assist in
the work.
Father Miller records that Broth
er Timmer spent all his free time
in the pursuit of astronomy, keep
ing the various up-to-the-minute
instruments in running order and
soon taking his turn at photograph
ing stars. One night last Febru
ary, Father Miller recalls, Brother
Timmer made his routine two-
hour photograph of the star field.
The plate used for the long expos
ure was the first from a recently
received shipment, and Brother
Timmer seeking to learn the de
veloping time best suited for the
new emulsion cut a test-strip from
one end of the plate, divided that
in three parts and developed each
part. One of the three-test piefces,
Father Miller relates, disclosed the
comet. This was checked again
through a photograph taken the
following night and the news was
cabled to Jhe Harvard Observa-
tors, which verified the discovery
of “Comet Timmer.”
Ernest Rogers, of the editorial
staff of The Atlanta Journal,
writes to that newspaper from
Hollywood to say that Walt Dis
ney, producer of the motion pic
ture. “Song of the South,” based
on the “Uncle Remus” stories of
Joel Chandler Harris, told him
that the world premiere of the
film will be held in Atlanta in
November or December of this
year.
One of the South’s most beloved
writers, Joel Chandler Harris was
received into the Catholic Church
shortly before his death in 1908.
Such subjects as “The Approach
to the Non-Catholic Mind,” “How
to Study Non-Catholic Religions,”
and “The Faith of Lutherans”
were included in the program of
the second annual Street Preach
ing Institute for Priests held at
the College of Our Lady of the
Ozark, Carthage, Mo., this month.
Dr. James M. Eagan, associate
professor of history at the College
of New Rochells, New Rochelle, N.
Y., has been appointed by the War
Department as chief speecialist
officer of the education and religi
ous affairs section, Allied Military
Government, and left this month
for Berlin. He anticipates that
his principal duties will center
around reorganization of confes
sional schools in Germany.
Yosuke Matsuoka, former Japa
nese Foreign Minister, one of the
defendants indicted by the Inter
national Military Tribunal in To
kyo, entered the Catholic Church
before he died of tuberculosis in
Tokyo last month. ?
A graduate of ‘the University of
Oregon, the former Japanese For-
eigfi Minister became a Methodist
in his younger days. Before en
tering Sugamo Prison last fall, he
was undergoing treatment by a
tuberculosis expert — a convert
woman. Dr. Eleanor Inoue, a grad
uate of Loyola University. Chi
cago—to whom the political lead
er repeatedly voiced his profound
admiration for His Holiness Pope
Pius XII. In Sugamo Prison, he
studied the Catholic religion, con
ferring with Father Francis P.
Scott, U. S. Army chaplain and
priest of the Diocese of Albany.
Maurv Mable died in Decatur.
Georgia, last month.
Mr. Mable was known far and
wide as the “One Man—St.
Patrick’s Day Parade.” For more
than fifty years, on each 17th of
March, attired in his high hat. and
his cutaway suit, flaunting a green
tie and handkerchief, he marched
in solitary splendor along De
catur’s streets. Though I12 never
laid claim to being a son of the
Emerald Isle, he put his heart in
to his St. Patrick’s Day parade
from the time that he was "a mere
broth of a boy” until age had
silvered his hair. At first, all by
himself, he later attracted a regu
lar following, there was a band
and cheering spectators, for a num
ber of years, then, when his fol
lowers deserted him. he continued
his marching alone in recent years.
lie was not a follower of the
Faith that St. Patrick brought to
Ireland, but he was religious in
his devotion to the fcastday of the
Apostle to The Irish.
The ruined castle, in Ireland,
once the home 6f Father Theodald
Mathew, the great apo-tie of tem
perance. has been bought by Arch
bishop David Mathew, Apostolic
Delegate to the African Mission,
his great-gj-and-nephew. and will
be preserved as a monument to
the historic Irish crusader.
A tribute! to‘Father Mathew ap
pears ta the latest March of Time
film, entitled “Problem Drinkers.”
The film, which shows the va
rious approaches being made to
day toward a better understand
ing of the problem of alcoholism
arid its control, shows a priest
reading the life of Father Math
ew with tlie comment: "By pre
cept, example, and exhortation,
generations of temperance cru
saders have carried on their work.
Notable among them was Father
Mathew, an Irish priest, who near
ly a hundred years ago converted
several hundred disciples in
America alone.” —H. K.