Newspaper Page Text
TWO
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
AUGUST 20, 1955.
Why lost
Concurrently?
(Continued from Page One)
life on the part of our people.
And a glance at the figures
which tell us that only one per
cent of the population of Geor
gia is Catholic, shows us that
“the Church has only just begun
to grow. The work of the Cath
olic Laymen’s Association is no
less necessary today than it was
thirty years ago. But the work
can only be done if there are
members to do it, if there are
men and women, today, with
zeal, tact and courage who are
willing to use their talents to
help bring about “A friendlier
feeling among Georgians, irres
pective of Creed."
In the early days of the Lay
men’s Association, in order to
spread true knowledge of- the
Church, prudent advertisements
were inserted in the newspapers
throughout the State, inviting in
quiries on the Church, her teach
ings and her institutions. Cath
olic literature was widely dis
tributed, and in a way calculated
to do the greatest amount of
good. Letters were written to
the editors of newspapers which
had misrepresented the Church
or had made unfair comment
about it. Every means, including
radio was employed to bring a
fuller knowledge of the teach
ings of Christ to Catholics and a
new and true knowledge of the
Church to non-Catholics. These
means are still effective and are
still in use.
In fact, so universally, effec
tive are these means, that they
are also used by wbrkers in the
Apostolate of Godd Will of the
CCD in various parts of the
country. From this quick look at
the history of the Catholic Lay
men’s Association of Georgia and
DL C,
own
Of tz
odcineS
C^niSaele
Note “To Form A Spiritual
Crown of Rosaries fVhich Will
Encircle the Globe with Peaceful
Good Will.’’
(By Stephen B. Novak,
Director)
While the diplomats walk the
corridors of peace halls, while
they sit around tables" and dis
cuss the probabilities of peace,-
while the armies of the nations
march in preparation for a war
what has been said about the
aims of the Confraternity of
Christian Doctrine, it can be seen
that the two organizations share
a harmony of interests. And that
is why the 40th annual Conven
tion of the Laymen’s Association
will not be held in Columbus,
this year. Instead, it will be held
in conjunction with the 9th
Regional Congress of the Con
fraternity of Christian Doctrine,
at the General Oglethorpe Hotel,
in Savannah on the weekend of
October 21, 22, and 23.
His Excellency, the Bishop, is
confident that the Confraternity
of Christian Doctrine will bene
fit from the long and fruitful ex
perience of the Catholic Lay
men’s Association, which will in
turn profit by learning yet more
ways of bringing Christ into the
lives of all. It is likewise his
fervent hope that since our most
zealous, lay apostles are in the
forefront of the batle waged by
the Laymen’s Association, that
association will take an active
and leading part in the CCD
Program to make Christ better
known and loved by all. And
when this program has become a
living reality, then it must in
evitably result in a “Friendlier
feeling among Georgians irres
pective of Creed.’’
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no one wants and everyone ex
pects, a different type of army
is being formed. This new army
does not march; it kneels. This
army has no weapon, but the
Rosary. This army is sure of
victory, because it is expanding
under the banner of the Blessed
Mother. Like the Crusades of
old, men, women, and children
of good faith everywhere are
turning to Heaven for leadership
in the struggle against an almost
overpowering enemy. Our Lord
has told us that where two or
three are gathered together in
His Name, He is there in their
midst. In 1917, Our Blessed
Mother came to Fatima to tell
us exactly how we were to bring
peace to the world. Leaving her
throne in Heaven, Mary came
with her message of love. She
told us that we must amend our
lives. She warned us tliat Our
Dear Lord was already too of
fended by the sins of the world,
that He would allow man to lead
himself into great catastrophies.
And she promised that peace
would come to the world if the
Rosary were faithfully recited.
The trouble with most of us is
that we place a curtain between
ourselves and Heaven. If we
would smile at Our Lord and
Our Blessed Mother, if we
would talk to them as we would
to our dearest friends, if we
would place ourselves entirely
in their care, and if we would
listen for their words of advice
and comfort, we would all lead
holier and better lives. We
would learn to love as God loves.
People in one nation are no
different from people in another
nation. We were all created by
the same God with the same
love If we could but share with
our fellow man some of the love
that God has shown for us, we
would truly change the world.
Love has no international boun
daries. By praying together, we
show the love that we have for
one another.
Heeding the words of Our
Blessed Mother and inspired by
the Pope’s plea for the laity to
take an active part in honoring
Mary • during the Marian Year,
on November 6, 1953, Father
Lawrence D. McGinley, assistant
pastor at Holy Trinity Church,
Passaic, N. J., and myself, a lay
man,. discussed the possibilities
of a Marian Year Rosary Cru
sade.
If enough people play the
Rosary daily with each person
choosing some particular time
during the day or night, with
only 96 people each saying the
Rosary at a different time, the
entire 24-hour period of each
day would be covered. There
would be a perpetual Rosary
being said throughout the entire
Marian Year, In One year, 35,-
040 Rosaries would be said by
the group. Each additional group
would add to this basic crown
of Rosaries being said. Members
would also be sought to promise
the daily recitation of the Rosa
ry without'any time designation.
Each person would know that
at every moment of every day.
someone, somewhere, would be
saying the Rosary. Each person
would see that he was saying
his Rosary in unity with every
other person. Each person would
be adding his own garland to
the crown being formed.
Through the constant re-living of
the Mysteries of the Rosary, the
true peace of Christ would be
brought into each and every life
and ultimately into the world.
Proceeding with this plan for
the Marian Year, we wrote to
every member of the Holy Name
Society of our own parish of
Holy Trinity. The results were
most encouraging.
I mentioned the Crusade in
my correspondence with Fatlfer
Joseph, Director of the Mercy
of God Devotion, Marian Fath
ers, Stockbridge, Mass. Father
Joseph immediately sent his list
of persons who were on his mail
ing list and called the Crusade:
“A new and inspiring apos
tolate.” The response to pleas
for Crusaders was overwhelm
ing with better than 50 per cent
joining and enlisting other mem
bers. The Crown of Rosaries
Crusade had begun.
With this initial growth out
side the parish, we wrote to in
dividuals, religious communities,
hospitals, Holy Name Societies
and the Catholic and secular
press throughout this country
and abroad.
Many religious communities
offered their cooperation and
services in distributing and
printing Crusade folders as did
individuals throughout the
world. The Trappists of Our
Lady of the Holy Ghost Abbey-
in Conyers, Georgia, under Ab
bot Robert McGann, were es
pecially instrumental in the
spread of the Crusade.
The Catholic newspapers and
magazines as well as some secu
lar newspapers generously aided
the Crusade through their pub
licizing of the Crusade’s growth.
Two letters seemed to prove
the tremendous appeal of this
Crusade in honor of Our Blessed
Mother. One came from the Rec
tor of the shrine of Our Lady
of Banneaux, Belgium, both
promising their cooperation in
the spread of the Crusade.
The progress of the Crusade
was beyond all expectation. At
the end of the first week, 40,000
Rosaries were promised. At the
end of six weeks, 580,000. And
for the entire Marian Year, a
phenomenal total of over 3,000,-
000 Rosaries were said.
Near the end of the Marian
Year, a report of the Crusade
was sent to the Bishop of Pater
son, His Excellency, The Most
Reverend James A. McNulty.
This report was then submitted
to Rome. Encouraged to con
tinue the Crusade by His Ex
cellency, we prepared a pamph
let explaining the Crusade, its
History and its purpose, and His
Excellency granted the Imprima
tur.
Forming a special staff for
the Crusade from the Junior and
Senior Sodalities of Our Lady in
our parish, we printed thousands
of folders for free distribution
to all parts of the world. A
painting was made especially for
the Crusade by Leonard Weg-
man, age 22, a parishioner, and
reproduced for the front cover
of the folder.
Original members were asked
to continue their membership in
the Crusade and were encour
aged to enlist other members. .
Since the end of the Marian
Year, when 3,000,000 Rosaries
were said in the Crusade, the
Crusade membership, in only 6
months, has already increased
fourfold, so that during the
forthcoming year, more than
12,000,000 Rosaries will be said
in every State of the United
States and In 40 Countries
throughout the world.
Retreat houses have made it
a \yeekly practice to enroll their
retreatants. Religious communi
ties have joined the Crusade by
uniting their Rosaries with ours.
The Salesian Fathers, Headquar
ters in Turin, Italy, enrolled
their entife group of priests,
brothers and students through
out the whole world in the num
ber of 18,000 members. 7.'he
Brothers of Christian Instruc
tion, Jersey, England, enlisted
their whole Congregation of 2,-
000 members. St. Stephen’s Con
vent, Nova Scotia, enrolled 1,500
members. The Mallinckrodt Sis
ters of Christian Charity enlist
ed every member of their Con
gregation throughout the entife
United States. In all, more than
100 religious communities haw-
already enrolled in the Crusade
and have undertaken to distri
bute membership blanks.
The Fatima Shrine in Portugal
has again written, requesting
both English and French trans
lations of the folders. The Na
tional Shrine of the Immaculate
Heart of Mary is also distribut
ing our folders.
The Youth Department of the
N.C.W.C. in Washington, D. C.,
recently included the Crusade
pamphlet in its monthly folio.
French, Spanish, Italian, Ger
man, Polish, Hungarian and oth
er language translations have
been requested. If some readers*
would volunteer to translate our
folder into any foreign langu-.
age, great impetus could be
given the Crusade.
Many noted people have
written complimentary letters
about the Crusade. Among them;
Father James Keller, founder
and director of 1 The Chris
tophers; Rev. John T. Corr, as
sistant to Father Patrick Peyton,
Director ox the Family Rosary
Crusade; M. Rev. Sebastian M,
Weber, OFM Conv., Assistant
Minister, General OFM Conven
tuals, Rome; Col. Charles W.
Marteney, Chief • of Air Force
Chaplains, USAF: and Dr. John
C. H. Mu, noted Chinese phi
losopher and former ambassador
to the Vatican, who made the
Crusade the theme of a recent
talk at a Holy Communion
Breakfast.
The letters which strike one’s
heart most impressively are
those which come from non-
Catholics and new converts. Of
ten, in words that are most
soul-searching, they tell us of
the great power of prayer and
the wonders of their newly
found faith.
Many letters are letters of pe
tition asking for the prayers for
loved ones, for help in time of
great crisis, for the return to
better health. We are sure that
Mary will in some way help
these good and faithful children.*
This is a Crusade of the laity.
We are forming a gigantic spiri
tual army in which many Cap
tains are needed. .More than a
(Continued on Page Three)
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