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I
PAGE 2—The Southern Cross, January 16, 1964
44
Pope’s Nazareth Talk
Turned Toward Mary”
At Nazareth our very first
thoughts must be turned toward
Mary most holy to offer her
the tribute of our devotion and
to nourish that devotion with
reflections that will make it
genuine, profound and unique,
just as the plan of God intends
it to be. We offer our homage
to her who is full of grace,
the immaculate, ever-virginal
Mother of Christ, the Mother,
therefore, of God and our Mo
ther, whose body and soul were
taken up into heaven, our most
blessed Queen, the model of the
Church, and the source of our
hope.
Before all else we offer her
our humble, filial promise ever
to venerate her with that spe
cial devotion which recognizes
the wonders which God has ac
complished in her, with that
singular homage which calls
forth the holiest, the purest, the
most affectionate, the most per
sonal and the most confident
movements of our hearts. Such
devotion should raise her high
above the world as an example
of human perfection in whom
the world may securely place
its trust.
Then we present our prayers
for what is closest to our hearts,
because we wish to honor both
her goodness and the power of
her love and intercession. We
pray that she may preserve in
our hearts a sincere devotion to
her. We beg her to give us the
understanding, the desire, the
confidence and the strength that
stem from the purity that should
direct soul and body, feeling
and word, art and love; the
purity that the world of today
can neither shock nor violate;
the purity to which Christ has
linked one of His promises, one
of His beatitudes, that of pene
trating even into the vision of
God Himself.
We ask therefore the favor
that she, the Mother of God, the
mother of the home of Nazareth,
will allow us to join her humble
but courageous spouse, St. Jo
seph, in the imtimacy which
both of them share with Christ,
her human and divine Son, Je
sus.
Nazareth is the school of ini
tiation into the understanding of
the life of Jesus. It is the school
of the Gospel. Here one learns
to observe, to listen, to medi
tate and to penetrate into the
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profound and mysterious mean
ing of that simple, humble and
lovely apparition of God among
men. Here one learns almost
imperceptibly to imitate Him.
Here one learns the way by
which we can enter into the
understanding of Christ. Here
one understands the need of
observing the setting of His
dealings with us; the places,
the time, the customs, the lan
guage, the religious atmosphere
—all of which Jesus used to
reveal Himself to the world.
Everything speaks to us. Ev
erything has a meaning. Every
thing possesses a twofold mes
sage.
The first is exterior, that
which the senses and percep
tiveness of the spectators can
derive from the Gospel scene.
It is the impression gained by
those who look merely at the
externals, who study and ex
amine only the philological and
historical trappings of the holy
books, the part that in Biblical
terminology is called “the let
ter,’’ precious, to be sure, and
necessary, but opaque to one
who stops at them, and capable
even of engendering illusions
and intellectual pride in one
who does not observe the exter
nal elements in the Gospel with
a clear view, a humble spirit,
a good intention and sincere
prayer.
There is a second element,
distinct from “the letter,”
which communicates the inter
ior message, that is, the reve
lation of divine truth, of super
natural reality, which the
Gospel not only contains but al
so manifests, though, to be sure,
only to the person who puts
himself under the influence of
its light, an influence which is
due partly to uprightness of
spirit, that is, of mind and of
heart. Such uprightness is a
subjective and human condition
which depends on the personal
initiative of each person. At the
same time the influence of the
light of the Gospel flows from
the mysterious, free and un
merited outpouring of grace
which, in keeping with the mys
tery of mercy which governs
the destiny of mankind, is nev
er lacking; indeed, at the pro
per time and in the appropriate
manner it never fails any man
of good will. This second ele
ment, distinct from “the let
ter” of the Gospel, is called
“the spirit.
It is here, in this school, that
one comes to grasp how neces
sary it is to be spiritually dis
ciplined, if one wishes to follow
the teachings of the Gospel and
to become a follower of Christ.
O how we would like to become
children again and to return to
learn our lessons in this humble
and yet sublime school of Na
zareth! How we would like to re
peat, so close to Mary, our
introduction to the genuine
knowledge of the meaning of
life and to the higher wisdom
of divine truth!
But our steps are hurried,
and we must leave here the de
sire for this never-ending edu
cation in the understanding of
the Gospel. But we cannot de
part without recalling briefly
and fleetingly some fragments
of the lesson of Nazareth.
The lesson of silence; may
an appreciation of this stupen
dous and indispensable moment
of spiritual opportunity return
to us, deafened as we are by
so much tumult, by so much
noise, by so many voices of our
chaotic and frenzied modern
life. The silence of Nazareth
teaches us recollection, reflec
tion and eagerness to heed the
good inspirations and words of
true teachers; it teaches us the
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need and the value of prepara
tion, of study, of meditation, of
a personal and interior life, of
prayer which is seen by God
alone in secret.
The lesson of domestic life:
may Nazareth teach us the
meaning of family life, its har
mony of love, its simplicity and
austere beauty, its sacred and
inviolable character; may it
teach us how sweet and irre
placeable is its pedagogy, how
fundamental and incomparable
its sociology.
The lesson of work; Nazareth,
house of the “Son of the Car
penter,” how we would like to
understand and to praise here
the austere and redeeming law
of human labor, to restore here
the consciousness of the dignity
of labor, to recall here how
work cannot be an end in itself,
and how free and elevated it
becomes, beyond its economic
value, in proportion to the val
ues which motivate it; to salute
here all the workers of the
world and point out to them
their great Coworker, their Di
vine Brother, the Champion of
all their rights, Christ the Lord!
And so our thoughts leave
Nazareth and range those moun
tains of Galilee which once pro
vided a natural school for the
words of the Divine Teacher.
Time fails us, sufficient virtue
fails us, to reaffirm at this
moment the divine and price
less message. But we cannot
omit to cast a glance at the
neighboring Mount of the Beati
tudes, the synthesis and summit
of evangelical preaching, and
listen to the echo of that dis
course which, engraved, as it
were, in this mysterious at
mosphere, now seems to be
audible to us.
It is the voice of Christ pro
mulgating the New Testament,
the new law which both absorbs
and surpasses the old, and rais
es human endeavor to the very
peak of perfection. The great
motive of man’s labor is a sense
of duty which involves the exer
cise of his freedom. In the Old
Testament it was fear; and at
all times including our own it
is instinct and selfinterest. But
for Christ, who is the Father’s
gift of love to the world, the
motive is love. He was taught to
obey through love; it is love that
moved Him to set us free. Ac
cording to the teaching of St.
Augustine, “God gave easier
precepts to those who still had
to be bound by fear, and through
His Son He gave more difficult
ones to those whom he had
deigned to free by love” (The
Lord’s Preaching, 1 1-P.L. 34,
1231).
Christ in His Gospel has
spelled out for the world the
supreme motive and the noblest
driving force for action and
hence for liberty and progress:
love. No one can surpass it, nor
can any one subdue or supplant
it. The only sound law of life is
His Gospel. The human person
reaches his highest level in
Christ’s teaching. Human
society finds therein its most
congenial and powerful unifying
force.
We believe, O Lord, in Thy
word; we will try to follow and
live it.
Now we hear its echo rever
berating in the souls of the men
of our century. It seems to tell
us; Blessed are we, if in pover
ty of spirit we learn to free our
selves from false confidence
in material things and to place
our chief desires in spiritual
and religious goods, treating the
poor with respect and love as
brothers and living images of
Christ.
Blessed are we if, having
acquired the meekness of the
strong, we learn how to re
nounce the perverse power of
hate and vegeance. Then we
shall have the wisdom of pre
ferring to the fear of armed
force, the generosity of for
giveness, the alliance between
freedom and work, and conquest
through goodness and peace.
Blessed are we, if we do not
make egoism the guiding criter
ion of our life, nor pleasure its
purpose, but learn rather to
discover in sobriety our
strength, in pain a source of
redemption, in sacrifice the
very summit of greatness.
Blessed are we, if we prefer
to be oppressed rather than be
the oppressors and constantly
hunger for the progress of jus
tice.
Blessed are we, if for the
Kingdom of God in time and
beyond time we learn to pardon
and to struggle on, to work and
to serve, to suffer and to love.
We shall never be deceived.
Thus today we seem to hear
again His voice. Then it was
MEMBERS OF SAINT JOSEPH’S SCHOOL (Macon) Junior Red Cross are shown with
their faculty moderator, Mrs. Louise Orr and parishioner Miss Mamie Weiz. The child
ren visited Miss Weiz's home and made Christmas favors for the Veteran’s Hospital.
—(Photo by Mrs. Margurite Currey)
Pope Cites Importance
Of Origins Of Faith
VATICAN CITY (NC) — Pope
Paul VI said here in referrring
to his Holy Land journey that
anyone who wishes to be a true
Christian should hark back
to the “origins of the Faith.”
It should be made very clear,
he added, that this return does
not mean ' ‘a denial of what
the Church has derived from
Christ.”
The Pope, who spoke at a
general audience (Jan. 8), said
that his return to Rome through
crowds of cheering Romans
“was in itself a general au
dience for the people of Rome
and all its authorities, an au
dience that was unprecedented
in manner and magnitude.”
The meetings he had with the
authorities and people of the
Holy Land, the Pope said,
‘ 'could not have been more
cordial or more clamorous.”
“We felt ourselves sur
rounded by such a general, such
an enthusiastic welcome, in
every place and at every mo
ment of our wanderings, that
we must ascribe these effects
to causes superior to the nor
mal,” the Pope stated.
Noting that the general au
dience was the first since his
return to Rome, the Pope con
tinued: “To you at this friend
ly meeting we shall simply say
how right and how beneficial it
is for those who wish to be
truly Christian to go to the
origins of one’s Faith, of one’s
COMMEMORATE POPE’S PILGRIMAGE. These postage
stamps issued by the State of Vatican City mark Pope Paul
Vi’s historic visit to the Holy Land. The stamps shown
here are in four denominations—15, 25, 70 and 160 lire. Upper
left, a scene in Bethlehem; upper right, the Pontiff in pray
er; lower left, a scene in Nazareth, and lower right, a view
of the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. (NC
Photo*)
By Msgr. McDonald
Blessed Sacrament
ram Outlined
Prog
SAVANNAH—Rt. Rev. Msgr.
Andrew J. McDonald, pastor of
the Blessed Sacrament Parish,
speaking to the parents at the
monthly meeting of the Blessed
Sacrament Home and School
Association, announced a vigo
rous program to be carried out
by the Parish in the next few
months. A Census of the entire
parish covering 5 square miles
will be taken, at the comple
tion of which it is expected
that the Priests of the Parish
will visit each home with a
two-fold purpose, first to bless
and dedicate the home to the
Sacred Heart; secondly, to make
himself better known to the pa
rishioners. Further announce
ments were that the young high
school girls were to be invited
stronger, sweeter, and more
awe-inspiring; it was divine.
But even now, trying to re
capture some resonance of the
Master’s words, we seem to be
won over as His disciples and
to be genuinely filled with new
wisdom and fresh courage.
to become members of the Altar
Society to assist the adult mem
bers in the various duties in
connection with the adornment
and care of the altar.
An Inquiry Class will be ini
tiated during this month and a
Parish Social will be held Tues
day evening, February 11th, to
which all parishoners are in
vited.
Guest speaker for the even
ing, Sister Mary Fidelis, Prin
cipal of St. Vincent’s Academy,
introduced by SisterMary Jude,
Principal of Blessed Sacrament
School, spoke at length and in
great depth of the educational
opportunities being offered to
girls at St. Vincent’s Academy
and was highly praiseworthy
of the academic qualifications
of the students enrolled at the
Academy from Blessed Sacra
ment School.
Attendance prize was won by
Sister Mary Edward's eighth
grade.
The meeting closed with a
prayer offered by Msgr. Mc
Donald.
religion. The return to the Gos
pel must be our constant en
deavor of thought, of spiritual
fervor, of moral renewal, of
religious and human sensi
tivity.”
“This return does not demand
a real journey to the places
made holy by the life of the
Lord,” he stressed. “It de
mands, however, an ever care
ful and affectionate knowledge of
its ‘Epiphany,’ of its manifes
tation to the world. It demands
that we should become ever
more the faithful disciples, at
tentive and ready to follow the
vital teachings the Master has
given.
* ‘And this return to the sour
ces of the Gospel does not im
ply—let it be very clear—a
denial of what the Church has
derived from Christ, but an
ever more intense effort to draw
our Christian profession closer
to its original conception, a
search for a greater fidelity to
the essence of the thought of the
Lord and for the spiritual ani
mation of all that the authen
tic development of tradition has
given us. . .”
Obituaries
Miss Starrs
SAVANNAH—Funeral serv
ices for Miss Marguerite (Rita)
A. Starrs were conducted Janu
ary 10th at Sacred Heart
Church.
Survivors are three sisters,
Miss Mary Starrs, Miss Anna
Starrs and Mrs. Henry J.
Moore; three brothers, Joseph
A. Starrs of Savannah; William
A. Starrs of Jacksonville Beach,
Fla., John J. Starrs of Tampa,
Fla., and several nieces and
nephews.
Mrs. Massengale
COLUMBUS—Funeral serv
ices for Mrs. Marie Britting-
ham Massengale were conduct
ed January 6th at Holy Family
Church with The Reverend Ar
thur A. Weltzer officiating.
Survivors include her hus
band, Raymond D. Massengale;
a sister, Mrs. C. E. ’Hamilton,
Washington, D. C., and several
nieces and nephews.
Miss Leacy
SAVANNAH—Funeral serv
ices for Miss Eleanor E. Leacy
were conducted January 10th at
the Cathedral of St. John the
Baptist with The Right Rever
end Msgr. T. James McNama
ra officiating.
Survivors include a sister,
Miss A. Elizabeth Leacy; two
nephews and four nieces.
Mrs. King
SAVANNAH—Funeral serv
ices for Mrs. Louise Jennings
King, widow of W. Furman King
were held January 13th in the
Blessed Sacrament Church with
The Reverend Edward Frank
officiating.
Surviving are three daugh
ters, Miss Frances King and
Miss Furman King, both of
Savannah, and Mrs. W. T. Sulli
van, Jr. of Eau Gallie, Fla., and
five grandchildren.
Miss Scully
AUGUSTA—Funeral serv
ices for Miss Joe May Scully
were held January 13th at St.
Patrick’s Catholic Church con
ducted by the Reverend Ralph
E. Seikel.
Survivors are several cou
sins, Mrs. Hugh Bedenfield,
Miss Mary Lou Shurley, and
Harry A. Shirley; one sister-in-
law, Mrs. Jerry L. Scully.
John D. Robinson
SAVANNAH—Funeral serv
ices for John D. Robinson were
conducted January 13th at the
Cathedral of St. John the Bap
tist, with The Right Reverend
Msgr. T. James McNamara of
ficiating.
Survivors include his wife,
Mrs. Helen Merkle Robinson;
a daughter, Mrs. Joseph C.
Muller; a brother, William J.
Robinson, and six grandchild
ren.
Pope, Patriarch
Joint Communique
JERUSALEM, Jordan (NC) —
Following is the text of the
communique issued jointly by
Pope Paul VI and Patriarch
Athenagoras I of Constantinople
at the close of their second
meeting (Jan. 6).
At the end of their meeting
in Jerusalem, the Holy Father
Paul VI and the Ecumenical
Patriarch Athenagoras, in
agreement with his Holy Synod,
have together acknowledged the
great significance of this event
and have given thanks to Al
mighty God, Father, Son and
Holy Spirit, who has guided
their steps to the Holy Land
where our common Redeemer,
Christ our Lord, lived, taught,
died, rose again and ascended
into Heaven, whence He sent
down the Holy Spirit upon the
Bishop Disapproves Cause
Of Girl, Reputed Stigmatic
PROVIDENCE, R. I. (NC)—
Providence’s Bishop Russell J
McVinney officially has disap
proved “with deep regret” any
further action to promote the
cause of Marie Rose Ferron, a
reputed stigmatic who died in
Woonsocket, R. I., on May 11,
1936.
The Bishop’s decree (Jan. 9)
said two investigations into the
cult of “Little Rose” Ferron
resulted in “predominantly
negative” findings. The decree
also stated: “Wherefore, with
deep regret we conclude that any
further action to promote the
cause of Rose Ferron is not
warranted. We urge all who have
manifested an interest in this
cause to disc.ontinue their activ
ity and to pray with us that this
pious soul may be permitted to
find her place among the my
riad unheralded saints who
enjoy the Beatific Vision in hea
ven.”
The Bishop recalled that af
ter the girl’s death great inter
est was centered in her cause
as the result of a book, “She
Wears a Crown of Thorns,”
written by Father O. A. Boyer
of Ogdensburg, N. Y. diocese.
“Many religious minded per
sons after reading this book and
hearing of the extraordinary
case manifested great interest,
so that a rather extensive cult
developed to Little Rose. These
devotees insist that the cause of
Rose Ferron should be pro
moted before the Sacred Con
gregation of Rites,” the Bi
shop’s decree said.
Bishop McVinney describ
ed “Little Rose” Ferron as “a
girl of deeply religious bent.”
He said that during the pro
tracted . illness preceding her
death, “it appeared to some that
she, after the manner of St.
Francis of assisi and other
saints, bore the stigmata of
Christ.”
The decree continued:
‘ ‘These phenomena were re
portedly noted for a while on
succeeding Fridays. It was al
leged that she took no nour
ishment whatever but received
sufficient substenance from re
ceiving Holy Communion
daily.”
Bishop McVinney said the
“circumstances surround
ing her illness were so extror-
dinary that she attracted many
people to her bedside.” He re
lated that as a result of interest
in the case: “Two investiga
tions were undertaken in the
Diocese of Providence under my
direction. The findings of both
these investigations are pre
dominantly negative.”
Information
Post For
Msgr. Tucek
DALLAS, Tex. (NC)—Msgr.
James I. Tucek, director of the
N.C.W.C. News Service bureau
in Rome since 1956, has been
named director of the Dallas-
Fort Worth diocesan bureau of
information and consulting edi
tor of the Texas Catholic, dio
cesan weekly.
Bishop Thomas K. Gorman of
Dallas-Fort Worth, who an
nounced the appointment, said
that Msgr. Tucek is returning
from his Rome post soon and
will be placed in charge of a
parish in the near futur.
Msgr. Tucek, 41, who was or
dained in 1947 , joined the
N.C.W.C. News Service Rome
bureau in 1955. He had pursued
graduate studies in journalism
at Northwestern University and
had worked for both the Catho
lic and secular press.
In 1959, the late Pope John
XXIII named him a papal cham
berlain with the title of Very
Reverend Monsignor.
In May, 1963, he received
Villanova University’s St. Aug
ustine Award, given annually for
outstanding achievement in the
communications field. During
the first session of the ecumen
ical council, he was head of the
English-language section of the
council’s press office.
In 1874, Georgia instituted
the first state department of
agriculture in the United Sta
tes.
infant Church.
This meeting cannot be con
sidered otherwise than as a
fraternal gesture inspired by
the charity ' of Christ, who left
to His disciples the supreme
commandment of loving one
another, of forgiving offenses
even to seventy times seven,
and of being united one with
another.
The two pilgrims, with their
eyes fixed on Christ, the Ex
emplar and Author with the Fa
ther in unity and peace, pray
to God that this meeting may
be the sign and prelude of
things to come for the glory of
God and the illumination of His
faithful people.
After so many centuries of
silence they have now come
together in putting God’s will
into effect and in proclaiming
the age-old truth of His Gospel
entrusted to the Church.
These common sentiments
are manifested to all the mem
bers of their respective hier
archies and to all the faithful
so that they too may partici
pate in them and offer to God
renewed prayers that the truth
of the one only Church of Christ
and of His Gsopel, light and
salvation of the world, may
shine with ever great bright
ness in the sight of all Chris
tians.
Georgia was the first state
to have a chartered college for
women: Wesleyan College,
founded in Macon in 1836.
Launcelot Johnstone, a Geor
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which cotton seed oil could be
made from previously discard
ed cotton seed.
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