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v 1 *! 7 7 Priests To Bring Blessing, Piece Of Chalk To Homes COUNCIL - (Con’t From Page 1) 36th (Dec. 5, 6, and 7) — the council Fathers also took steps to reduce the number of pro jects they will have to deal with in the second phase of the coun cil next September, and contin ued discussion on the proposal on the nature of the Church. At the 34th meeting, a folder was distributed to the Fathers out lining how 73 projects reported ready for the council agenda could be reduced to 20 topics that would represent the total material to be submitted for discussion during the council. At the 35th general congrega tion, Archbishop Felici review ed the work on the first session. He said that 587 Fathers had spoken in the first 34 meet ings and that 523 had submitted written observations, so that a total of 1,110 Fathers had expressed their views up to that time. Compared to the grandeur of the opening ceremonies, the closing ritual (Dec. 8) was simple. The Pope , who had been ailing for almost two weeks, was not present for all of this session, but did appear in the Council Hall to deliver a 25-minute address to the Fa thers. He told the prelates that “a good beginning has been made”; that the work of the ecumenical council will go for ward during the nine-month in terval until September 8, and that he foresaw the possi bility that the council will end by Christmas, 1963. YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio, (NC) - To hundreds of homes here this week, priests will bring a blessing and a piece of chalk. The blessing is for the house and all who live in it. The white chalk is for the inscription the priest leaves on the inside of the parishioner's front door: 19 plus G plus M plus B plus 63. The inscription is made up of the year separated by the first letter of the name of each of the three Wise Men—Casper, Melchior and Balthasar. Some families leave it on the door $2 Million To Church LAWLER, Iowa, (NC)-Frank E. Eickhoff, 76, a retired hard ware store manager who died December 9, has left two mil lion dollars to church and chari table institutions in the Dubuque archdiocese and elsewhere. The largest single bequest by Eickhoff, a lifelong resident of this community, was $500,000 for a new Catholic church here. The present church was built in 1871. St. Joseph’s Hospital, New Hampton, was bequested $100,000. Other parishes and charitable institutions in the archdiocese will receive about $295,000. all year to remind them that on the feast of the Epiphany, (Jan. 6) Christ revealed him self to the Gentiles—the Three Kings- -for the first time. The Epiphany custom dates back at least to the fifth century, and has been especially popular since that time among the peo ples of Central Europe: Poles, Slovaks, Hungarians, Austrians and Croatians. During each visit, the priest says in Latin: “Peace be to this house. And all who dwell therein." He also says the Magnificat, and prays in part: “O God, who on this day by the leading of a star didst mani fest Thine only Begotten Son to the Gentiles, mercifully grant that we who know Thee now by faith, may be brought to the contemplation of the beauty of Thy majesty. . .” He also prays: “O Almighty God, bless this home, that in it may dwell health, purity, per severance in virtue, humility, godliness and meekness, the observance of God’s law and gratitude to God, the Father, the SonJ* and the Holy Ghost; and may this blessing remain over this home and over all those who dwell therein. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.’’ This prayer, intoned in Latin, is then translated into English, or the language used in the home. Greetings To THE SOUTHERN CROSS FROM THE MISSIONARY FRANCISCAN SISTERS CHALK UP ONE BLESSING - Fathers Michael Ronik (left) and George Franko, assistants at Holy Name parish, Youngstown, Ohio, chalk up an Epiphany blessing over a parishioner’s front door. The inscription: 19 plus G plus M plus B plus 63 stands for the year separated by the first letter of the name of the Wise Men - Caspar, Melchoir and Balthasar. This custom dates back to the fifth century and is popular among the peoples of Central Europe. (NC Photos) The Southern Cross, January 5, 1963—PAGE 3-C NCWC Family Life Head Lauds NIH For Research WASHINGTON, (NC) - The director of the Family Life Bureau, National Catholic Wel fare Conference, has commend ed the National Institutes of Health for supporting research in human reproduction. Father John C. Knott said in a statement that NIH “should be encouraged to continue and intensify, if possible, its sup port of continued basic research projects” in this area. NIH support of research on human reproduction totals more than $2.7 million in the current year, according to a survey of “research in reproduction re lated to birth and population control,” released (Dec. 29) by NIH, research arm. of the Public Health Service. Father Knott’s statement lauded this survey for its "scientific objectivity.” The report is a catalog of some 400 research projects now underway, describing the projects and their sources of support. Describing its own position, the report says it “neither advocates nor condemns birth control or any of the methods described.” The survey gives the total expenditure by major support ing agencies for 382 research projects in the field of human reproduction as $6,094,293 in the current year. Of this total, $2,787,161 was spent by NIH to support 170 projects. This made NIH by far the largest supporter of research in the field. The re port noted that the agency sup ports more than half of all biomedical research intheU.S. The development of new birth control techniques is not a specific objective of NIH, the report said. It added that the government agency is con cerned instead with “basic re search on reproduction and with disease rather than with birth control as such.” THE [HEW] MARCH OF DIMES N1F THE NATIONAL FOUNDATION Greetings And Best Wishes To The Southern Cross Savannah’s Diocesan Weekly From St. John The Evangelist Church Valdosta AUGUSTA BEST WISHES From Columbus Our Best Wishes On The First Issue Of ern c, rod 3 Sacred Heart Parish Warner Robins