The Catholic times. [volume], February 15, 1952, Image 4

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THE
CATHOLIC TIMES
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This Paper Printed by Union Labor
Queen Elizabeth
and History
It is with sentiments of sympathy and of admir
ation that the world looks to the new Queen of Eng
land. Sympathy upon the sudden and unexpected
death of her much respected father, and admiration
for her own good character as queen and woman.
It is rather disturbing, however, to note that no
less a person than Winston Churchill makes refer
ence to the new queen as destined to be “the second
good Queen Bess Now it is about time that the
myth about the first Queen Elizabeth be dropped.
She was not the good queen. Nor is she to be cred
ited with anything startling or worthwhile. What of
importance was done as the result of her will or
intelligence? Is there anything in Europe or Eng
land of which we can now say, “This was done by
Queen Elizabeth?”
It must be remembered that it was during her
reign that the Catholic Faith, then held by the great
majority of her subjects in England, was literally
uprooted and destroyed under the direction of Will
iam Cecil and his cohorts. The story of that persecu
tion has its counterpart today in the crushing of the
Church by the Communists in many nations. Cecil
stamped out the Mass, and, like the Communists
of 1952, gathered the younger generation of a re
luctant people under the new banner of thought to
ward religion. The result was to be expected.
Oh, yes, the predecessor of the first Queen
Elizabeth, was smeared by these same historians as
“Bloody Mary”. Her short reign is still referred to
as the “Marian Reaction.” One cannot help but won
der whether or not the Reds of our day studied the
history of Elizabeth’s time to come up with their
constant attacks upon all opponents as “reactionar
ies.”
The new Queen Elizabeth will truly be ‘good
Queen Bess” if she succeeds in leading her country
back to its religious glory and consequent peace of
another era. She will hardly do it as the head of two
Churches.
Americanism Week
The span of days terminated by the birthdays of
those two great Americans, Abraham Lincoln’s
on Feb. 12 and George Washington’s on Feb. 22, has
been designated Americanism Week. This is a
healthy "week" in more ways than one.
During this time all Americans have been asked
to direct their attention to the fundamentals upon
which our greatness as a nation has been built, upon
the bases of our democratic way of life and upon
the history which made possible and the contin
uing safeguards that are necessary to preserve
the sacred rights of the individual to whose protec
tion so many of our fellow Americans have dedi
cated their lives.
There is an unlimited supply of food for thought
during these ten days. Liberty, the individual, free
enterprise, religious freedom and democracy.
Speeches will be made exhorting Americans to think
about these blessings of ours and to cherish them.
Much will be said concerning our Founding Fath
ers and their principles which made ihia nation.
We’ll be asked to harken to their words, to meas
ure our times against theirs, to correct our sights
and bearings, and to rededicate ourselves to walk
in their footsteps to ensure the continuance of these
blessings which mean so much to us.
These speeches and exhortations are good things
One manr however, who has a message for us all,
will not be able to speak over the radio and televi
sion networks next week We would like to bring
you now a part of his speech:
“Our progress in degeneracy appears to me to
be pretty rapid As a nation we began hy declaring
that ‘all men are created equal.’ We now practically
read it all men are created equal except Negroes.’
When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read
‘all men are created equal, except negroes and
foreigners and Catholics.’
“When it comes to this, I shall prefer emigrating
to some country where they make no pretense of
loving liberty -to Russia, for instance, where des
potism can be taken pure, without the base alloy
of hypocracy.”
These are certainly words for our times. Their
author will he making no personal appearances next
week though, because he's been dead for 87 years
He was Abraham Lincoln.
When thinking of our American way of life, and
the attacks which it is now underdoing, it might he
well to recall some other words of A. Lincoln
that great American patriot who said:
"If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves
be its author and finisher As a nation of freemen
we must live through all times or die by sui
cide.”
The Basis for
Brotherhood
Probably there is nothing which brings men to
gether quicker than common suffering. This was
evident time after time during the last war People
of high degree and lo« found themselves enjoying
one another’s company in bomb shelters all around
the war-torn world Wherever disaster afflicts the
human family there can be found the evidt nee that
the membeis of that family are brothers under their
Heavenly Father.
The shame for all of us in this consideration is
that too many of us have to he brought together by
suffering. Until then we stand on our pride, pro
claim our rights and demand attention if not service
from our brothers This same pattern is being fol
lowed by nations in their deliberations for the com
mon effort against the common evil.
Brotherhood Week might well be an occasion
for all to rededicate themselves to then Christian
duty of charity. This above all is the time for unity
against a threatening evil Repeatedly the Holy
Father has asked that all religious peoples join in
the battle against Red brutality and war His has
been an inspiring leadership in this regard. But here
again there are those who would continue to re
member their own personal prides and prejudices as
of greater significance than the need to save mil
lions from the enslavement of an atheistic power
Almighty God made no exceptions when He told
us to love our neighbor And His Divine Son even
went so far as to forgive a sinner during His own
death struggle which was caused by sin When
thought is given to it. it seems something of a puzzle
that there ia need for Brotherhood Week among
Christians. How could this be? Are Christians not
followers of Christ Whose great commandment was
one of love? And for that matter, how can anyone
who professes to believe in God feel that he serves
that God by failing in charity to one of His other
children? Brotherhood Week just won’t make sense
unless it helps men to acknowledge their Heavenly
Father, and their resulting obligation, under Him,
to love one another as brothers. There can be no
other lasting motive for brotherly love except we be
members of one family, with God as our Father.
Brotherhood will be just as universal as is the
acknowledgement of and belief in God. He is the
source of love. Unless men turn back to God there
will be no basis for brotherly love, and no lasting
success for Brotherhood Week.
o
Temptations:
A Good Thing?
In the rather lengthy portion of the letter to the
Corinthians that is read to us this Sunday, St. Paul,
in passing, answers a question that is often asked
today. Many people wonder just why God per
mits them to be tempted along a certain line.
People are frequently heard to say, “If only I
didn’t have to worry about this particular sin, I’d be
alright. I can cope pretty well with all the rest,
but this one special temptation just seems to dog
me to death. I can’t understand it—I’ve prayed
so often for God to remove it from me.” And so on.
St. Paul tells us that he was bothered with just
such a temptation, and that he had asked God on
three separate occasions to remove it from him.
And each time he received the same answer: No,
God would not remove it. “My grace is sufficient
for thee, for strength is made perfect in weak
ness.”
The Holy Ghost let St. Paul know that there was
a good reason for not removing this “thorn in his
side” as he called it. It was there to keep St. Paul
humble, to let him remember just how weak he was,
lest having nothing to worry about in the spiritual
life he became proud and lose his soul.
How did St. Paul take this gentle rebuff? Did it
sadden him, make him want to give up, or fearful
of the future? Not at all—it made him happy, for he
says, “Gladly therefore, will glory in my infirmi
ties, that the strength of Christ may be made man
ifest in me.”
Just Among Ourselves
Passing Commant Considered or Inconsiderate
Last Sunday’s observance as Biblical Sunday
ought to endure in its good effects among the chil
dren of the Church. We all need an occasional re
minder of the great value of the treasures that
come to us with the Faith. Familiarity does not nec
essarily breed contempt, but it does tend to breed
forgetfulness living with wonderful things may lull
the spirit of gratitude and appreciation with which
they should be employed. The written Word of God
is a treasure of inestimable value which the Church
places in our hands. With a mother’s care, the
Church sees that we are regularly reminded of its
character and stirred to its use.
*devoted
Among the many silly lies that are told of Cath
olics, none is more absurd than the familiar state
ment that “Catholics are not allowed to read the
Bi hie.” The truth that anyone may prove to his com
pletes! satisfaction, throughout the whole history of
the Church, is that Catholics are urged to read the
Bible. What is forbidden to them is the reading of
faulty and truncated versions of the Bible. If
^Boards of Education were to prohibit the use
to American children of a history of the United
States prepared by Hitler or Stalin, would sane
people say, “American Children are not allowed to
read the history of the United States?” Hardly.
There are versions of the Bible in which the text
is mishandled and notes of faulty interpretation pre
sented. Naturally, The Church will not have her chil
dren touch such versions. One does not draw the
water of life from polluted wells. Nor is this an un
acknowledged charge. The men who made a revision
of the first “authorized” King James Bible found no
fewer than 30,000 errors. One of the revisers remark
ed, “It is vain for us to console ourselves with the
thought that all these errors were unintentional.”
It is the Church that gives us the Bible. Our
Ixird gave to the Church the task and the authority
to feed with truth the flock of His beloved souls.
His own voice and command were given to the
Church with the words, “He that heareth you, hear
eth Me.” And, indeed, it is the Church alone which
judges which of a multitude of books claiming to
be God’s word are really what they purport to be.
Were it not for the authority and the decision of the
Church, no one would know the Bible is.
♦what
When mistaken zealots rail against the Catholic
Church and hold up the Bible as though it were
something alien and hostile to the Church, we should
ask them where the Bible comes from. We should
urge these people to investigate their own re
sources and to discover where they got the Bible.
For It is a demonstrable fact that, no matter
how they have treated and changed it since, they
got the Bible from the Catholic Church.
The Church recognizes the Word of God and
receives and reverences it she uses it constantly in
all her prayers and ceremonies she reads it pub
licly to the faithful on Sundays and holy days her
priests build around it their sermons and exhorta
tions her scholars draw upon it as first source and
proof in their systematic statements of Catholic doc
trine. People who think that Catholics are not per
mitted to use the Bihle ought to attend some Cath
olic ceremonies or devotions or listen to a course
of instruction in Catholic teaching. They would ex
perience the shock of a non-Catholic woman who
picked up a Catholic prayer-book to glance curiously
through its pages after half an hour of increasingly
interesting investigation she cried in amazement,
"Why, it’s just full of texts from the Bible!”
The mistaken people who rebelled against the
Church about 400 years ago came gradually to the
belief that the Bible alone is the whole Word of
God. "The Bible, and the Bible alone, is the religion
of Protestants.” Yet this doctrine is not contained
in the Bihle! Nowhere does the Bible say that it is
the full and only Word of God. Therefore the doc
trine that the Bible is all-sufficient is without war
rant this doctrine stands self-convicted.
The Bible is one of the two sources or fountains
of God’s revelation. The other has been called Sac
red Tradition.—a word much misinterpreted, and
sometimes wilfully by enemies of the Catholic
Church. For Sacred Tradition is no pious folk lore.
It is the living history of the Church, discernible
with certainty (and not in vague changing accounts
grown gradually legendary) in documents and
monuments other than the Bible. The Bible
is divinely inspired writing the documents of
Tradition are thoroughly reliable and authentic
records, but are not divinely inspired. It is an utter
falsification of fact to consider Tradition as a kind
of body of musty legends and customs in the Church.
It is the exact opposite of this.
Thus there are two fountains of revelation, the
Bible (or Sacred Scripture) and Sacred Tradition.
But the rule of faith for Catholics is the living voice
and authority of the Church—her divinely given
magisterium of teaching office—conferred by her
founder when He said, "Go, teach all nations
WASHINGTON LETTER
Men and women who admit
having been members of the
Communist Party have come for
ward to talk about their experi
ences. Agents of the FBI, in in
creasing numbers, report what
they learned in undercover work
in the midst of the Reds. More
and more people escape from
eastern Europe to tell what life
is like behind the Iron Curtain.
In a number of cases such wit­
LOVIS F. BVDENZ
Divergent
Two German
authors both
of approx
imately the
same age, both
refugees from
Naziism, both
American citi
zens at the
present time—
have recently
published
books on the
subject of capitalism. The two
books, unlike their authors, have
very little if anything in com
mon.
The first, “Capitalism in Amer
ica: A Classless Society,” by
Frederick Martin btem, argues
in effect that capitalism Amer
ican style is the necessary frame
work for a classless society,
meaning social progress with
equal opportunity, freedom and
dignity for all. The second, “Cap
italism and Socialism on Trial,”
by Fritz Sternberg, argues that
capitalism, even in the United
States, “will hardly survive the
twentieth century” because of
what he regards as its inherent
inability, in the absence of im
perialism, to provide an ade
quate market for the products of
industry or, to put it in other
words, its inability to guarantee
continuous employment with a
progressive standard of living.
Nalther Without Faults
Both books are deserving of
careful study for different rea
sons and by different groups of
people. The former is required
reading for those Europeans
—their name is legion—who mis
understand capitalism and un
derestimate its virtues the lat
ter, for those Americans—their
name is also legion—who tend
to blink at the weaknesses of
American capitalism and over
estimate its virtues. The one it
an over-sized pamphlet written
by an intelligent non academic
capitalist (Mr. Stern) for the edu
cation of socialists the other is
a veritable tome complete with
statistical charts and graphs,
written by an intelligent academ-
Finger In The Pie
‘.’fTW
r'*
The Battle: Godly vs
The great, overtowering strug
gle going on in the world today
is basically a contest between
believers in God and the forces
of anti-God.
This may come as a surprise
to some people, but it is a hard
rock fact that comes out of the
testimony of witnesses who in re
cent months have testified here
before Congressional inquiries.
Never before has the Free World
had available so much authentic
information regarding the real
character of communism. AU of
it, sooner or later, points to the
fact that Marxism is Godless and
bent on the destruction of all re
ligion.
Irreligion is not the only mark
of communism. It is the most
important mark, however. Com
munism could not be Marxism
if it were not atheistic. Some of
the former communists date
their break with “the party”
from the time they could no
longer deny the existence of
their souls, or the fact that there
had to be a Supreme Being, a
Creator for the universe.
Views Of
ic socialist (Mr. Sternberg) for
the education of capitalists. Nei
ther is without its faults, but
both are worthy of serious at
tention.
Mr. Stern’s little book is a ser
ies of letters written to an old
friend in France, who can stand
as a symbol of all those Euro
peans who are cynical about the
United States not so much be
cause of Communist propaganda,
but rather because of their own
lack of accurate information
about things American in gen
eral and about the American
economic system in particular.
Stern tries to demonstrate to his
friend the differences between
American and European capital
ism. Special emphasis is put on
the fact that American capital
ism—for all of its faults, many
of which, he says, have been or
are being corrected and all of
its “materialism” has come
closer to producing a classless
society, based on the principles
of equal opportunity and freedom
for all, than any other economic
system in the history of the
world.
Deficits and Assets
This is not the usual oversim
plified three-cheers-for-free-en
terprise, God-bless-America prop
aganda of organizations like the
Committee for Constitutional
Government. Quite the contrary.
Mr. Stern is too intelligent and
too sophisticated for that. He is
a progressive, fully conscious of
the deficits as well as the assets
of American capitalism. Never
does he seem to be lecturing or
talking down to his friends in
Europe. He understands their
history and traditions and is very
sympathetic to their point of
view. In a few places he tends
to overestimate the social prog
ress made in the United States,
and some might consider him a
little too optimistic about our abil
ity to cope with what he calls
the problem of “depressions and
security.” In general, however,
he has done a creditable job of
explaining American capitalism.
Would that more of the “free
enterprise" propaganda of Amer-
THE CATHOLIC TIMES, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1952________________________________________________ ________
y
tz
nesses have been asked how a
man of intelligence, and some
times of high position, could be
led to embrace communism. The
essence of their answers is that
communism is a sort of dedica
tion (in this case dedication to
drastically and quickly changing
the world), and men and women
embrace it as a sort of religion
—a materialistic religion. Marx
ism denies the existence, or the
need for, God, and so its adher
ents are religiously dedicated to
rooting God out of the hearts and
minds of men. It is a part of
their mission to change the
world.
..wf
3^11
Godless
If this is the true nature of
today’s great struggle—the most
titanic in the history of the
world—how is the Free World
to conduct its campaign? It must
take whatever precautionary
measures it can, but former com
munists warn that name-calling
and even some kinds of laws are
of no avail against zealots reli
giously dedicated to an irreli
gious cause.
It would certainly seem pru
dent to become less and less like
this mortal enemy. That is, we
should become less agnostic, less
atheistic, less irreligious. It cer
tainly looks like we are not try
ing to win if we become like the
enemy—anti-God. Perhaps that
is the best explanation of how
men who have not known God,
or who have forsaken Him, can
complacently play the communist
game, while denying to be mem
bers of the Communist Party.
If they can see nothing wrong
in opposing God, they are un
able to see anything wrong in
the wiles of communism.
Capitalism
ican organizations—including the
U.S. Chamber of Commerce and
the National Association of Man
ufacturers, by no means the
worst offenders—were as frank,
as well balanced, and as sympa
thetic to the European point of
view.
Mr. Sternberg is an academic
socialist but he is not doctrin
aire, at least not offensively so.
He tries to stick to facts, as he
sees them, and does not hesitate
to part company with Karl Marx
and the other socialist “fathers”
whenever he thinks they are
wrong. He has written an elabor
ate economic history of the mod
ern world, country by country,
all to prove his thesis that capit
alism, even in the United States
where it has succeeded more fab
ulously than anywhere else, is
incapable of sustaining an ade
quate demand for the products
of industry: therefore, it is
bound to fall of its own weight,
probably before the end of the
present century.
Another Answer Possible
Whether or not we agree or
disagree with Mr. Sternberg—
and the present writer does not
agree with him—serious consid
eration should be given to his
indictment of American capital
ism. If. as and when we return
to a peace-time economy and dis
continue spending billions for de
fense, we will have a difficult
time maintaining an adequate
market and avoiding unemploy
ment. There is no question about
that. It can be done, however—
Mr. Sternberg and other social
ists to the contrary notwithstand
ing—but only if we are willing to
face up to the problem honestly
and to work out a solution co
operatively with all eyes center
ed on the cortimon good.
Mr. Sternberg believes that
democratic socialism is the only
answer the majority of Ameri
cans, thank God, disagree with
that conclusion. It is not enough,
however, to voice our disagree
ment in words alone. Intelli
gent and courageous action, de
signed to correct the weaknesses
of capitalism, is also required.
INQUIRY CORNER
Is The Catholic
Church Intolerant?
Q. What is holy water and
why is it used upon entering a
church?
A. In the Old Testament (Num-)
bers viii.7) God commanded Mos
es to take the Levites out of the
midst of the children of Israel
and purify them, “According to
this rite: Let them be sprinkled
with the water of purification,”
and in St. John’s Gospel (v.2-4)
we see God curing infirmities
through the waters of Bethsaida,
and (ix.7) Christ curing the blind
man through the use of the pool
of Siloe. Among the sacramen
tals, therefore, holy water has a
high place, radiating the power
which Christ gives to it through
the Church, especially for protec
tion against the power of Satan.
The taking of water upon enter
ing church and the Asperges be
fore Sunday Mass both have the
idea of a return to baptismal in
nocence, removing the stains of
our sins and imperfections as we
approach the altar of God.
Q. What is meant by the
“intolerance of the Catholic
Church:* an expression I came
across in a book?
Tolerance means the patient
bearing of acts, beliefs and prac
tices different from our own. In
matters of opinion, such as poli
tics, literature, music, economics
no group can be said to have
absolute certainty, and tolerance
means Christian democratic
open-minded exchange of views
and absence of repression of op
posite schools of thought. Even
in these areas, as in factual sci
ences, there are some certain
facts (e.g. Columbus discovered
America 1492) and certainties
(e g. proved chemical or mathe
matical formulas) which must be
accepted, especially by teachers.
Even civil law recognizes certain
ethical necessities for the com
mon good and will not permit
obscenity or treason to be pub
licly promoted. If God had not
spoken, matters of religion would
be subject to human frailty and
tolerance would demand a great
deal of human discussion and in
quiry, but He has and the Cath
olic Church cannot accept in her
members nor approve in others
ideas that are contrary to God’s
Revelation. The Catholic Church
is always firm in its insistence
GRETTA PALMER
A lively lit
tle dispute on
the use of
prayer in the
public schools
blew up a few
weeks ago. It
arose between
the New York
State Board of
Regents and
two Protestant
groups of
Schenectady: the Frist Methodist
Church and the First Unitarian
Society. And who do you think,
of these opponents, was pro
prayer? And who do you think
opposed the proposition with
considerable heat?
Your guess—if it is a kindly
and charitable one—is wrong. It
was the State Board of Regents,
representing secular forces, that
recommended opening each
school day with a prayer. It was
the men of cloth who drew back
jn horror from the shocking in
novation.
“This nation was founded by
those who learned the tragedy of
a society in which the state and
church were one,” stated the
Methodist Church Board. “The
place for specific teaching and
formal practice of religion is in
the home and in the church."
At the time when “those who
founded this nation” were found
ing it, every blessed educational
institution in the country, from
the New England Dames Schools
to the universities, was primar
ily engaged in teaching religion,
according to historians. The full
horror of religion in the schools
could hardly have occurred to
men who had never heard of any
school that was not church-in
spired. It was not until 1817 that
state-supported schools bagan—
and then, only in Michigan.
The Unitarian’s protest urged
that “each should be free to find
his own way religiously and spir
itually.” They were joined by the
New York Board of Rabbis, who
opposed the suggestion for pray
er on the grounds that it “will
give rise to sectarian practices."
The Freethinkers of America are
against it too.
Shallow Phrases
What is the Regents’ prayer,
that it should have stirred up so
great an antagonism among
these men, most of whom are
presumably devoting their lives
to trying to induce Americans to
pray? Does it take a narrow po
sition on such controversial mat
ters as the Virgin Birth? Does it
offend the sensibilities of those
who are wobbly on the Divinity
of Christ? Does it take a fiercely
orthodox position against divorce,
or castigate the practice of cre
mation’ What wildly orthodox
prayer can the Regents have con
trived, which Methodist minis
ters and Unitarian pastors would
forbid children to say?
Here it is: “Almighty God, we
acknowledge our denendence up
on thee and beg Thy blessings
upon God’s Word being accept
ed without change, but the occa
sional instances in which indi
vidual Catholics have used force
to gain acceptance have never
been pleasing to the Church. No
person is to be forced to accept
God or God’s word, so the Church
is clearly tolerant in teaching
kindness and patience to those
who have beliefs other than our
own.
Q. Are the prayers after Low
Mass really for Russia?
In 1884 Pope Leo XIU intro
duced the prayers which the
priest and people say after Low
Mass, and Blessed Pius added
the invocations to the Sacred
Heart. In 1930, Pope Pius XI or
dered them to be offered up for
the restoration of religious peace
and freedom to our afflicted
brethren in Russia.
Q. What should you do if
something you did quite a few
years ago, which you are almost
certain is not as sin, bothers you
later in life? Could this be a
temptation from the devil?
A. The sacrament of Penance
forgives all sins which are sub
mitted to the priest and for
which we are truly sorry, includ
ing some that we may have for
gotten to mention. Assuming that
you have received the sacra
ment since the act to which you
refer happened and that you did
not consider it a sin at the time
and withhold it you can be cer
tain that the power of Christ in
that sacrament has removed the
sin if it should be a sin. General
ly, however, we discover sins in
our childhood or youth, which
we did not recognize as such at
the time. We cannot take away
the true absolution of such sins
because we see the malice of
them now, and we should simply
breathe a prayer of thanksgiving
for the mercy of God who does
not consider an act as a sin
which we committed without suf
ficient knowledge. At rare inter
vals during life a Catholic should
make a general confession in
which he may mention predom
inant sins in his past and such
troublesome acts of his youth,
but usually such disturbing
thoughts are from the devil, cal
culated to disturb the peace of
soul which should flow from Pen
ance and a Christian life.
Don't Mention God!
upon us, our parents, our teach
ers and our country. Amen*
And that is all.
This is a prayer, one would
think, which could offend one
type of thinker, and only one:
the strange breed known as mil
itant atheists—men who devote
their lives to trying to prove to
others that the universe is run
ning drunkenly on its own pow
er, with no control from either
Love or Wisdom. To such men,
the Regents’ prayer is an obvious
affront—any prayer! The indig
nation of Freethinkers of Amer
ica at the Regents’ action springs,
logically, from their intellectual
stand. Hating religion, they are
consistent in hating it when it
crops up in Schenectady.
One Subject Taboo
Censorship is always with us:
the only differences that occur,
with the passage of time, are in
the subjects considered unfit for
human ears to hear and eyes to
see. There was a time when it
was thought indelicate to discus*
sex in the classroom of th*
public schools: that theory is
now considered quaint. Thero
was a time when blasphemy and
smut among the young wer*
punished by the teacher’s birch
or the home remedy of soap in
the mouth. There was a period
when teachers suspected of be
ing treasonably loyal to a foreign
and hostile state would have
been dismissed, and at once.
Today, such things have alto
gether changed.
There is just one field in which
the schools are asked, by our so
ciety, to restrict the freedom of
children whom they educate. Let
them discuss any subject that
they wish, save one. Let them in
culcate any whimsical, unsub
stantiated theory of economic*
or sociology. There is just one
word, that is a forbidden word,
and it is GOD. There is just one
activity our children may not en
gage in as a group, and it is
prayer.
The first parochial school ac
cording to the books, was that of
St. Mary’s, Philadelphia, and it
was founded in 1767 when every
school was a religious school, and
every school day opened with a
prayer. And now the indifferent
ism which has always cursed
public education in this country
has passed on and worsened and
changed into official atheism, so
that the secular educators them
selves are scolded by minister*
of God if they so much as men
tion God.
The parochial school alone ha*
survived the sickness of th*
times. The children attending
any Catholic school today may
say the same “Hail, Mary,” re
peat the same “Apostles’ Creed”
as the first class old St. Mary’*
ever drew. In a world gone mad
one system has preserved its san
ity. And America may yet b*
saved from chaos because two
and a half million Catholic chil
dren still sanctify their day by
acknowledging their God.