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■AU£!j ST gj-_l?Mg „ TI-IE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
FIVE
WITH OTHER EDITORS
WHY VVIi GO TO CHURCH I obligation of paying homage to
A recent advertisement, carried I God.
on the weekly “church page” of I Our very existence lias been
many of our secular newspapers, j made possible through the good-
said: “There are four sound rea- ness of our Divine Creator. What*
sons why every person should at
tend and support the cVuirch of
his choice. They are: (1) For his
own sake. <2> For his children’s
sake. (3) For the sake of the com
munity and the nation. (4) For the
sake of the church itself, which
needs his moral and material sup
port.”
The most important reason of
all was entirely overlooked, name
ly, that we should attend church
because it is our strict duty to
worship God. All other motives
are merely secondary and must be
correlated with the one great
ever degree of health, success and
happiness we have attained in this
world is due entirely to the mercy
of Him who watches over us with
fatherly solicitude. The moment
and manner of our departure
from this earth i.s entirely at His
behest. There is nothing that we
can do without Him. We can add
not a single second to our lives
when lie decrees that our mortal
pilgrimage is finished.
God demands, then, our first
and undivided attention. We go to
church to offer Him thanks for
His bountiful blessings. We be-*
seech His succor in the trials and
problems that beset us. We en
deavor in our humble way to ex
press our love and affection.
When we do this, the other mo
tives will necessarily follow. To
leave God out of the considera
tion, and to attend church merely
for ourselves, for the sake of our
children, or for the benefit of the
church itself, is to lose sight of
the reason for our existence.—
(The Steubenville Register.)
MONUMENTS OF CHARITY
Within the past few weeks,
several outstanding bequests have
been made to Catholic institutions
which should serve to draw our
attention to the exemplaray prac
tice in including religious and
charitable organizations in our last
wills and testaments.
The bulk of a $3,000,000 estate
left by the late Major Bowes went
to St. Patrick’s Cathedral, New
Best Wishes
Look far I oof in the Bright Blue Wrapper
Electric Rates Are Lower
Than Ever Before
Use your electric service fully. It's an out
standing bargain in this day when other
prices are way up. It’s cheaper than ever
before!
Though prices of other things have risen
sharply during and since the war, the aver
age home we serve is paying 12 per cent
less for electric service than it was five years
ago. And present rates average one-third
less than ten years ago.
Another thing to remember. Consumers on
the farms and in the smaller communities
pay the same low rates as residents of the
larger towns and cities.
GEORGIA POWER COMPANY
A. Citizen Wherever We Serve
Yolk city, tb be disposed of al the
discretion of Cardinal Spellman.
A number of other charitable
agencies were also included in the
Major's will.
In Philadepihia, Mrs. Kathryn
Horn bequeathed an estate valued
at nearly $300,000 to Ihe Indian
and Negro missions, the Society
for the Propagation of the Faith,
the Catholic Extention Society, the
Little Sisters of the Poor, and
several other Catholic institutions.
In Greensboro, North Carolina,
Julian Price, a non-Catholic, did
not wait until his demise to permit
others to share in his wealth. Re
cently he gave the sum of $400,-
000 for the erection of a new
Catholic church and rectory in
memory of his wile, who had been
a member of the Greensboro
Parish.
These examples of generosity
should be an incentive to other
Catholics and non-Catholics who
have been blessed with wordly
prosperity. To bequeath one's foil
estate to immediate surviving
relatives is not to injure the man
ner in'which the legacy will be
spent. To remember the needy,
works of religion and charity is
to make sure that the legacy will
be utilized in a way pleasing to the
Divine Dispensor of all gifts Long
after n person is dead, bis memory
will be cherished by those be has
aided. He will live on in the
memorials of religion and charity
erected or maintained in his name.
In every diocese there are de
mands for increased woiks of
charity and often cannot be met
beeau-e of lack of necessary funds.
, The poor we have always with
us. Hospitals, orphanages, homes
for the aged, seminaries, churches,
schools, and mission chapels are of
the utmost importance to the pres
ervation and extension of God's
kingdom on earth.
What greater epitaph could be
inscribed on the monuments of
Ihe wealthy than this: "tie sold all
that he had and gave to the poor.”
(Steubenville Resis*er>.
Chaplain of K. of C.
Council in Savannah
A CATHOLIC GIFT TO AMERICA
Our nation “is facing a potential
army of six million criminals and
an evar-increasing wave of law
lessness. that is feeding Ihe crimi
nal ranks with a never-ending sup
ply of recruits.” These are the
words not of an alarmist or of a
person easily shocked. They are
the words of J. Edgar Hoover, di
rector of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation. In an interview
given recently Mr. Hoover warned
that “law enforcement today is
facing one of its most gigantic
tasks. The crime increase so far
this year,” lie pointed out, “is
even greater than the 12' k per cent
increase recorded for 1945." He
tiled figures showing that the
majority of crimes were committed
by teen-aged youths.
Unlike many pseudo-educators
who bitterly blame the surge of
juvenile delinquency wholly upon
postwar conditions, Mr. Hoover at
tributes the breakdown to “a re
cession of moral fortitude and
lowered moral standards" among
youths. Though post-war con
ditions do greatly aggreviate juve
nile delinquency, as Mr. Hoover
admits, it is not the basic cause.
Post-war conditions arc 1 merely
bringing about a testing time. And
in this test (tie moral mettle of
American youth is being shock
ingly flabby.
And what is the basic cause of
this moral flabbiness among
youths? The cause of this weak
ness of this lack of discipline, was
given indirectly but nevertheless
concisely and clearly by the father
of ibis nation when he said: “Let
us with caution indulge the sup-
"osition that morality can be maln-
• ined without religion.” It is be
cause we as a nation have ignored
this warning of George Washing
ton and have failed to give youth
a religious education, ‘.he very
basis of a disciplined life. Ilia! we
have an alarming breakdown in
Hie moral standards of youth, if
our nation fails to recognize this
fundamental fact, if it prefers to
ignore Washington’s warning,
nothing can arrest the creeping rot
of moral disintegration which is
eating into our nation.
In I lie light of Mr. Hoover's
charge that youths today are de
linquent primarily because of "a
recession of moral fortitude and
lowered moral standards,” his re
cent tribute to the Catholic school
system gains even added luster.
“No gift of Rockefeller or Car
negie foundations or any other
Christian denomination, Mr. Hoo-
V ver said, “can equal the gift pre
sented to the American people by
Ihe Catholic Church. It has nearly
1.000 schools, wilh nearly three
milMon pupils, who are taught by
95,000 patriotic teachers. Not a
single atheistic teacher is among
I Item; not a single non-Christian
or non-American principle is
taught. Many Catholic public
REV. ROBERT BRENNAN. O.S.B.
Father Robert Brennan. O. S. B.,
pastor of the Sacred Heart Church,
Savannah, Ga., who lias been re
appointed chaplain of Savannah
Council, No. 6G0, Knights of
Columbus.
Memorial Tablet
Unveiled at Church
in Southern Pines
SOUTHERN PINES, N. C —
After delivering the invocation on
the anniversary of V-J Day. before
the parade of the famous 82nd Air
Borne Division. Father Herbert A.
Harkins, unveiled and blessed a
bronze memorial tablet lo one of
iris former assistants at St. An
thony of Padua Church here. Capt.
Philip B. Edelen. a priest of the
Diocese of Raleigh, who was killed
in action while serving with the
Army Chaplains Corps in France.
Father Edelen’s parents, Mr. and
Mi's. P. B. Edelen, of Raleigh, gave
six sons to their country's service
in World War II. two of them,
Father Edelen and his brother.
Flight Officer Neale Edelen, lost
their lives in line of duty.
Major and Mrs. Ronald Thomas
of the 82nd Airborne Division were
hosts to the children’s choir of
St. Anthony’s Church. Major and
Mrs. Thomas direct the church
choir, with Mrs. J. Wells. Ihe
former Miss Mary Ann Hamill, of
Baltimore, and Mrs. Malcolm
Grover, of Chicago, as organists.
Following his recent reception
into the Church. Donald Hurst,
son-in-law of Mayor Leo Vincent
O’Callaghan, of Southern Pines,
attended the Retreat for men held
at Belmont Abbey.
Sergeant Clyde Kendrick and
Mrs. Kendrick. Hie former Miss
Betsy Jean Backer, of Southern
Pines, botli converts, are now at
tending the Caliiolic University of
America. When they were married
at Si. Anthony of Padua Church
last fall, they received a special
blessing from His Holiness Pope
Pius XII.
A triduum in honor of Out-
Blessed Lady was conducted at
St. Anthony’s Church, preparatory
to the Feast of the Assumption.
The illuminated shrine of Our
Lady of Lourdes, on the church
lawn, attracted many visitors, wiio
were in Southern Pines for the
Veterans Welcome Home celebra
tion on V-J Day to the scene and
(he triduum exercises. The shrine
is the gift of Mrs. Ernest Lorenson,
whose husband a recent convert,
headed the group from Southern
Pines at the Laymen’s Retreat at
Belmont Abbey.
Vatican Not Informed
of Protestant Group’s
Move for Joint Action
VATICAN CITY. — Vatican
circles said nothing is known here
concerning a move to promote
joint action by Catholics and
Protestants on world affairs, based
on “some kind of-satisfaeto v un
derstanding at the highest levels,
presumably between the World
Council and the Vatican,” as re
ported from Cambridge. England,
where the Woild Council of
Churches, made up of Protestant
and Orthodox church groups, lias
been in session.
school children come before the
children’s court, but a survey of
the past six months in Queen's
county, a borough of a million and
a quarter souls in New York City,
shows that no one parochial school
student has eotne^before the court
in spite of the war and the upset
families.” (Cincinnati Telegraph)