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AUGUST 3, 1957. THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA FIVB j ► i Jottings . (By BARBARA C. JENCKS) I : • "LIFE" found a . new type of woman to feature in its pages several weeks back. Regular readers of this slick ad journal must have squinted hard on com ing across, smack in the middle of the magazine, a feature about a nun. This seemed strange fare indeed for the pages of the most materialistic journal of them all. ‘’Life” however., is known for its Dr. ,1- • . .! 1 and Mr. Hyde person ality. It was surely a turn about face, in any case, finding a nun singled out for the feature treat ment. Sister M. Madeleva, C.S.C., poet-president of St. Mary’s Col lege, Notre Dame, Indiana, did not leak too comfortable there amid the advertisements and other features. Not that secular journals are rarities to this nun. Not a’ all. Her poetry has been published in “New York Times,” and Saturday Review of Litera ture” and “American Mercury.” The Life” article about the nun followed the traditional jargon of the slick journal. It did no more than gloss ’ the surface in its attempt to present a close-up of this nun’s story. This column is for those who have asked to know more about the nun whom they met on “Life’s” pages. • CONSIDER and incisive exec utive — a brilliant scholar — a sincere altogether human woman — a sensitive poet and an un assuming nun. This is a word sketch of Sister Madeleva. (In cidentally even the famous “Life” photography failed to portray the nun to best advantage. “Visitor” photographer Joseph Marcello did a much more professional job in his superb portrait of her when she visited Providence College in 1952). The article in “Life” failed to impress the fact that besides being a rather remarkable wo man, one who does an exception ally fine job of running the oldest and largest Catholic college for women in the United States and besides being a religious poet who has found secular success that Sister Madeleva is first and foremost a nun, a dedicated re ligious bound to the vows of pov erty and chastity and obedience. A long time ago she decided that the things of the world, some of the very materialistic things for I which “Life” carries the flag, j were not enough to fill her heart j and mind and soul. Somehow in j an effort to present the secular j abilities and talents of this re- 1 markable nun, “Life” overlooked the most essential fact. It seem ed to me that someone should undertake t h e task of under scoring the fact that more than an administrator, poet, scholar, ed ucator, philosopher. Sister Made- leva is a nun. • BORN MARY E VALINE WOLFF, her quest for beauty and truth began early. On. her fath er’s knee at the Wolff home in Cumberland, Wisconsin, she first heard the world’s great poetry to which she was to add her own chapter. She later was an un dergraduate at the college to which she was to bring honor and fame. The quest for beauty did not encl at any writing desk or in any classroom; It ended in a chapel when Sister Madeleva first pronounced her vows as a Holy Cross Sister. All her other successes have been built on this cornerstone, “Sister” is her most revered title. It means more than president and artist ana- execu tive. Someone once said that Sis ter Madeleva had the poet’s abil ity to see things as a whole and the administrator’s talent for turning visions into a reality. Was it not the religious core which gave her those very vis ions? There’s a quotation which is closely associated with Sister Madeleva, one which serves her own plea and one which is sure ly the unvoiced plea of the stu dents she has guided in her 23 years as president of St. Mary’s College. It is: “Give us Your vision to uplift lis, Your strength in which to rest.” And this is my version of a close-up of Sister Madeleva, poet, president and NUN! BACKDROP— (Continued from Page Four) in an American church than if it were said in English . Also, it must not be forgotten that many foreign priests labor in American dioceses, often in churches whose congregations are made up of more than one nationality. For them, too, saying Mass in English would be in finitely more difficult than in the language they learned in the seminary. BEAUTIFUL LANGUAGE It may be true, as a priest re marked to a parishioner who ask ed why the Church permitted the Russian Catholics to recite the liturgy in Old Slavonic, that! there is “nothing holy about Latin.” But Latin is the liturgical language of the great majority of Catholics and has been for many hundreds of years. It is a lang uage of majestic beauty, and we should have compelling reasons for jesttisoning it in favor of the vernacular. But have we? the lUCJCIE & CONE ST5. t Mm.i f/// $f//m/a. iOO% AIR CONDITIONED Located in the heart of downtown Atlanta. Convenient to business and entertainment. Eteiicioua tneais in the beautiful Miami Buffet. HARRY DONOHUE, Mgr. VUa&lin lllewdleth don MODERN X*. Two Locations PEACHTREE AT 12TH TB. 2-0320 MAPLE DR. AT PEACHTREE HD, CE. 3-1052 ROY O. ROBISON, Owner-Manager er (Continued from Page Four) city that the proposal to bring Marshal Tito here as an official visitor was being revised. It was said that he would come in Oc tober. It was impossible to confirm or dispel this rumor. It did seem to have some substance, how ever. An attempt was made to bring Tito here on an official visit last spring, but it fizzled in the face of opposition, notably in in Congress, where an impressive number of lawmakers signed a document in protest. But, it was not said at that time that the project had been aban doned: merely that the time for it was not right. The Congress men withheld sending their pro test to the White House, but warned that they would keep it handy, and dispatch it if the mat ter came up again. Last spring, when Congress men threatened to boycott any appearance Tito might make on Capitol Hill, it was suggested that he might be brought here while Congress was in Easter re cess. Tito indicated he would not come under the circumstances. It is thought that he might accept an invitation to come in October, even though he could not address a joint session of Congress, be cause Congress would be on va cation and there would be no question of Senators and Con gressmen boycotting his appear ance. Besides, it is argued, he could use an invitation to this country in the game he is now playing with Khrushchev. The White House professed amazement that some newspapers interpreted President Eisenhow er’s press conference remark to mean that he “favored” or “sug gested” a visit by Marshal Zhu kov. Nothing of the sort was in tended, it was indicated. But it did stir immediate and widespread opposition. This de velopment should give pause, to any officials who might have been entertaining the idea of hav ing Marshal Tito come over for a visit in the fall. MEMORIAL WINDOWS ANTIQUE OR OPALESCENT BRONZE NAME PLATES STEEL SASH LLORENS STAINED CLASS STUDIOS 215 MORELAND AVE.NE PH:AL.73T2 ATLANTA.CA, j YOU CAN WIN CONVERTS j ► Conversion Of A Pope l By REV. JOHN A. O'BRIEN, Ph. D. £ (University of Notre Dame) What keeps so many people outside the Catholic Church? Ignorance of her divine credent ials and doctrines, prejudice based upon misrepresentation and slander, the apathy of most Catholics and the bad example of some. When one is brought into c o,n tact with the truth! about the Cath olic religion, he| soon finds a de-l sire welling up : within him to embrace it. Such was the experience of Floyd Pope of Nazareth, North Carolina. I met Floyd at the Catholic orphanage there in 1953 when I went down to lend a hand to Bishop Waters in launching the second diocesan-wide Crusade for Souls in America. I-asked Floyd what led him to enter the Catholic Church in a state where Catholics constitute less than one per cent of the population. “As a native Carolinian,” began Floyd, “I heard the usual charges against Catholics: they owe polit ical allegiance to a foreign ruler, they are priest-ridden, forbidden to read the Bible, and they pay money to a priest to get their sins forgiven. Then too, there were rumors about the evil lives of priests and nuns and a lot of goings on in convents and monas teries that couldn't stand the light of day. “As a boy I lived across the street from the Catholic orphan age here. Later on, I got a job there. Hence I had an excellent opportunity to get a close-up of the lives of Sisters and priests. “After working here fourteen years and seeing each day their unfailing kindness to the orphans, their deep human sympathy for all in need or trouble and the daily sacrifices they make so cheerfully, I decided it was time to learn more about the religion which inspired such devotion, holiness and love. “I felt that they must possess something I lacked. I had attend ed the services of most of the non-Catholic denominations in this area, but I was unable to find satisfaction in any of them. They differed from one another in doc trine and even the members of the same sect held divergent views on many important points. “So I started attending the Catholic Church. I was impressed with the reverence, sincerity arid, devotion of the worshippers, many of whom had to travel miles to attend Mass. There are unity of worship and of faith; they all knew what they believed and why.” “Yes,” he replied. “After atten ding Mass and other devotions for two years, I went to St. Mon ica’s Rectory in Raleigh, where Dominican Fathers, Walter J. Tierney and John S. Dillon, gave me a complete course of instruct ion and received me into the Church. The day on which I made my First Holy Communion was one of the happiest in my life, “Bishop Waters confirmed me. That day I shall never forget. It was a very hot day in June. I had to work part of the day and sorrie- ! how I was delayed in getting to church. When I did arrive the j Bishop and Father Tierney were : waiting outside the church for me. “I apologized to Bishop Waters for delaying the ceremony. He just smiled and said, “I’ll wait any day for a Pope!” “I can’t tell you how much satisfaction, joy and happiness I’ve derived from the practice of the faith. I wish I could share this treasure with everyone. May our Blessed Lord give me the ; grace to lead a good life so that i others might see in it a shining 'light that will lead them to the i true and living faith.” your Lump Sum Savings Set aside yotir accumulated cash funds with this specialized Savings Association . . . where your money consistently earns higher-than-average earnings . . . without worry, work, or risk on your- part. Every six months, you’ll receive a. check for the extra dollars your savings have earned. Open your account this week! Mutual Federal Savings & Loan Association f 205 AUBURN AVENUE, N. E. ATLANTA, GA, Current Dividend Rale 3V2 Percent Per Annum Each Account Insured Up To $10,000.30 SAVE BY MAIL