The Georgia bulletin (Atlanta) 1963-current, October 11, 1979, Image 7

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Funding for the digitization of this title was provided by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta.

Newspaper Page TextPAGE 7—The Georgia Bulletin r October 11,1979 GREENBRIAR NORCROSS 3030 Campbellton Rd., S.W.-344-9862 3 North Buford Highway-448-2169 MARIETTA WEST END 85 Church St., N.W.-424-9000 640 Evans St.. S.W.-752-5800 AC WORTH 4671 South Main St.-974-3106 BUCKHEAD 334 E. Paces Ferry Rd.. N.E.-266-8480 CONYERS 1147 West Ave-483-7231 CUMMING 116 N Mam St -887-4322 DECATUR 528 Church St-377-0141 DOUGLASVILLE 6650 E Church St -942-2485 DOWNTOWN ATLANTA 235 Peachtree St.-572-0123 EAST POINT Atlanta Gas Light Company Georgia Natural Gas Company BIBLE SHARING CONFERENCE -- Father John Burke, OP, Director of the Word of God Institute, was the key-note speaker in the recent Bible Sharing Conference at St. Philip Benizi Parish. The 100 participants were encouraged to continue their reflection on the Word of God in ongoing Sharing Groups. (Continued from page 1) arrival at the Boston Commons. Archbishop Donnellan said, “This was the crowd I most admired. They stood shoulder to shoulder in the steady downpour of rain and the Holy Father stood with them.” During the Mass, Archbishop Donnellan said that the Pope seemed “genuinely moved” by the shouts from his youthful audience of, “John Paul II. We love you.” In New York, there was an entirely different type of atmosphere, Archbishop Donnellan said. “Not only was the weather perfect, but the address the Pope delivered at the United Nations was a very formal occasion.” At the United Nations, as contrasted with the reception from the audience at the Boston Commons, Archbishop Donnellan said that the audience “remained very quiet until the end of the Pope’s remarks.” The papal visit to Saint Patrick’s Cathedral was personally moving to Archbishop Donnellan, who was ordained to the priesthood there and later consecrated to the Episcopacy there in 1964. “Actually, it was old home week for me in New York,” Archbishop Donnellan said. During the brief visit there, he met numerous priests and lay persons whom he had known during the time he served as Bishop of Ogdensburg in New York State. Monsignor Emerson Moore, who hosted the Pope during his visit to Harlem, was a student of the Archbishop when he served as Rector of Saint Joseph’s Seminary. At Madison Square Garden, where the service had been planned by young people, the Archbishop said that the Pope “was very happy” with the gifts the youngsters presented him, which included a guitar, a pair of blue jeans from Macey’s and a T-shirt proclaiming, “The Big Apple - We Love You.” Archbishop Donnellan’s most private contact with the Holy Father came during a dinner hosted by Cardinal Krol in Philadelphia. “About 30 bishops attended the dinner, and the Holy Father informally chatted with each of us,” the Archbishop said. “We were impressed by how well he speaks and understands English, but we did learn that certain words or phrases give him trouble.” The pontiff’s brief visit to Des Moines, “left him totally at ease,” according to Archbishop Donnellan. “He seemed glad to be in the country and away from the big city.” In Chacago, Archbishop Donnellan commented, the address the Pope made to U.S. Bishops was the “largest gathering of bishops I have ever seen during my 15 years as a member of the Bishops’ Conference,” and included a number of retired bishops. “This was probably the most important session for the bishops,” he said. ‘‘The Holy Father encouraged us to stand fast in our love of Jesus Christ and this was a very inspiring message to all of us.” Later in the day, Archbishop Donnellan joined the more than 300 U.S. Bishops in concelebrating Mass with the Pope at Grant Park in Chicago. The Archbishop described the White House reception as “a real mob scene,” and said that between 8,000 and 10,000 people attended the reception hosted by President Carter. The weather was quite windy, the Archbishop said, and President Carter held the papal cape to keep it from blowing over the Pope’s head. When someone in the crowd asked that the Holy Father bless them all, Pope John Paul II turned to President Carter and said, “With the p e r m i ssion of the President of the United States, I will bless you all. Although he was not present at the confrontation between Pope John Paul II and Sister Theresa Kane concerning the ordination of women to the priesthood, Archbishop Donnellan was asked if he thought the encounter distressed the Pope. “He’s not the flappable type,’’ was the Archbishop’s reply. The Pope’s personality “took on the role of Professor,” Archbishop Donnellan said, when he addressed theology teachers and university faculty members while in Washington. . “The Holy Father has the great ability to meet with people on their own level,” the Archbishop said. “His mood can change to fit the occasion, whether chatting with young people or addressing university faculties. “Everyone with whom I have talked has been deliriously happy about the visit and about THEIR Pope,” the Archbishop c oncluded. ‘‘He is obviously a totally loving person.” Flannery O’Connor Popularity Evidenced At College Seminar Archbishop Recalls Papal Journey- BY ANNE K. MCBRIDE Georgia College in Milledgeville stands firmly in the center of town, surrounded by historic homes and buildings. The older red brick buildings with white pillars provide a fine background for the wide green lawn and the more recent College Center. Mary Flannery O’Connor, famous now for her novels and short stories, once walked this campus where, even in 1945, her literary promise was evident. When illness forced her return in 1951, the college was a continuing part of her restricted life. It is in this setting that a seminar on Flannery O’Connor is conducted each summer. Students had a special teacher this year in Mrs. Sally Fitzgerald. A petite woman with short, charcoal-gray hair, Mrs. Fitzgerald had been a close friend since the Georgia author’s early writing years in New York and has recently selected and edited O’Connor’s letters, entitling the publication “The Habit of Being.” She points out in her introduction to the letters that they reveal Flannery O’Connor to be, besides a witty and enthusiastic correspondent, “a striking apologist for Catholicism” with an avocation for theology. Each weekday, Mrs. Fitzgerald led a class of about 20 students of varying ages to a deeper understanding of O’Connor’s works. She paused frequently to share an anecdote stemming from her long friendship with the author and her family. She encouraged them to enjoy the sharp humor with which all the stories are presented, reminding them that “Flannery always laughed herself when she read her stories.” Her voice, distinctive with its perfect diction and elegant vocabulary, surrounded each story with a rich background of sources, insights, and comments. Mrs. Fitzgerald’s favorite short story is “The Artificial Nigger” and when explaining the significance of the dark lawn statue, she stressed the importance of that moment in the life of Mr. Head and his grandson when they were suddenly flooded with grace. One of Flannery O’Connor’s letters reflects this as she writes “all my stories are about the action of grace on a character who is not very willing to support it. ..” ‘A Late Encounter . . .’ In another short story, “A Late Encounter with the Enemy,” old General Sash experiences a momentary confrontation “with the harsh truth of his own life, the wrongs he’s done, all he’s been avoiding,” explained Mrs. Fitzgerald. During the study of the novel “Wise Blood,” Mrs. Fitzgerald pointed out that “it takes a story to tell a story” and cited a possible source for the central character’s name. In the second book of Kings, chapter eight, King Hazael of Aram torments the children of Israel just as Hazel Motes taunts those who are “saved.” She noted the theme of displacement that appears several times in the story and the silver spectacles worn by Haze’s mother and then later by him, revealing to him a wrong, distorted view of life. Gold spectacles in O’Connor stories are reserved for those who have a proper life view while “hats are talismans that give readers clues as to the nature of the character.” Flannery O’Connor wrote “Wise Blood” while she was living with Sally and Robert Fitzgerald in their Connecticut home for two years. Two of the Fitzgerald’s sons, Benedict and Michael, and Michael’s wife Kathy, produced the movie, “Wise Blood,” which was directed by John Houston and then premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival in May. It was filmed in Macon, Georgia, and also in Atlanta. Locations there included the Atlanta Zoo, Cyclorama, Piedmont Park, Emory University Campus, and Peachtree Street. Occasional Prose Sally was co-editor, with Robert Fitzgerald, of “Mystery and Manners,” a volume of occasional prose by Flannery O’Connor. This book and “The Habit of Being” were published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Robert Giroux and Flannery O’Connor were godparents to one of the Fitzgerald’s daughters who now lives in London. The letters illustrate the close ties between O’Connor and Fitzgerald. Flannery often relied on Sally’s opinion on details of her fiction. In May of 1958, Sally joined Flannery and her mother, Mrs. Regina O’Connor when they made a pilgrimage to Lourdes. The Fitzgeralds were living in Italy at that time. And the title, “The Habit of Being,” that was given to the letters - what does that really mean? “Well,” said Mrs. Fitzgerald, “One can form the habit of being an artist, a scientist can develop the habit of being a scientist and Flannery had the habit of ‘being’ - involved in being, as in the question, ‘To be or not to be?,’ not passive, complete involvement in being, >» ‘Flannery was a deeply religious person. When she lived with us she went to daily Mass. And she realized that her church, her faith in no way interferred with her art.” Andalusia There are many changes in Milledgeville since Flannery O’Connor died there of lupus in 1964. The unpaved road leading to Andalusia, the family farm outside of town where Flannery and her mother lived during her illness, is overgrown with needs. A KEEP OUT sign above a closed gate abruptly warns the visitor to go no farther. A librarian instructs, “walk three blocks south of the college to the cemetery and line yourself up with the Baptist Church. You’ll find Flannery’s grave beside her father’s.” Her mother now resides in the Gordon-Cline House near the college. Flannery’s peacocks unfurl their splendor for the monks at the monastery in Conyers, Georgia. The 1979 Visiting O’Connor Professor returned to her family in Cambridge, Massachusetts. But the manuscripts, books, tape recordings, and photographs are gathered together as a special collection in a small room on the second floor of the college library. Its furnishings have a distinct Victorian flavor and the design in the carpet suggest the colorful fantail of a peacock. The FLANNERY O’CONNOR BULLETIN is published annually by Georgia College. It contains articles, pictures and poems - all pertaining to the author and her works. And Sally Fitzgerald continues to study the stories and novels with scholarly scrutiny aided by a grant from the Radcliff Institute, long years of close friendship, and her own sharp literary sense. FOLLOWING THE DEATH of Georgia author Flannery O’Connor, her peacocks were given to the Trappist Monastery in Conyers. Descendants of the original peacocks still may be seen at the monastery. WiC TRI-CITY FEDERAL A, Your Savings SAV,NGS ANO loa n association *l|||lll* j;Z d oo LIBERAL RATES On Savings Small Change! 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The Georgia bulletin (Atlanta) 1963-current, October 11, 1979, Image 7