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Show i r" gburcb Universal I CHURCH CLENDAR. i on Fourth .ent. St. John ( oVrnc E. C i - 12-31; G. John. J Wrl K.4.15; f ' -e..- -al favors. ' iLM. St. Joi;ii C; ...cus. 432,815 j i , t cnrci;'!. various. '".j T, St. Nicii 'iis nf Flue. For : Mesenp'er readers. . .pjrunry indulgence- fjr Associates; -frn- l'ro'ni"iers. CALENDAR FOR APRIL, 1908, And Petitions for Prayers From Associates, As-sociates, U. S. A. 1 W. St. Valerius. 518.3S5 for thanks- "tIi. t- Francis of Paula. 350,360 fr the afflicted. 3 F. K"-t Fridr.y. Most Precious jlood. St. Richard. 315,065 for the ijck. infirm. 4 c. st. Isidore. 252,781 for dead As-(oCiHtvS- j , ' THE GENERAL INTENTION f pecommended by His Holiness, ' Piux X. ' jrHE INTEGRITY OF TJ1E FAITH. The H"iy i-atner, me uuaraian oi the fail truth committed by our Blessed jord I ) His Church, reeo- imends the iitecrii of that faith to the prayers of ti,e'A! Mistlrship. While the faith of Xhl chiirrh can never fall, for Christ af pmmised that "the pates of hell f;ai) it ver prevail against her," still J j'jividnals may weaken in the faith j n(j rv-.-n lose it entirely. ; This precious gift received in bs.p-j bs.p-j ,:5m If the very root and foundation i ffail merit and-good works. Without I Jt St. raul tells us we cannot please ! (;od. cannot be acceptable in His signt. man without faith is as blind in I the sriritual order and as dark to heav- fn!y things a? was the blind man out-j out-j fide of Jericho till Our Lord touched i fii? eyes and he saw. 1 This preat blessing we can weaken i in our souls and even lose completely. J :i every day life the atmosphere ve I nathe is so tainted in the miasmic J vapors of unbelief, that unless we are on our guard we soon inhale the pois-! pois-! mnus air and our faith in readils' tar-l tar-l riFlied. The men and women we meet are so imbued with tenets opposed to J the supernatural that the purity of our I faith is easily blurred by dally con-4 con-4 tart with them. Books, papers and magazines so reek with doubt and in- fvtl.nis teachings that if we are not I vigilant we too run great risk of be- coming mentally soiled and of having cur perception of supernatural truth i dimmed. Hence this month we aro in I fray earnestly for the preservation of i tin's most precious gift unsullied in our hearts in the hearts of the faithful. We shall not forget also to off?r up j our prayers for those who do not see p the truth, that God may open their 3 typs and hearts to its light and " r.rength. The School and the Home. T.fv. Edward A. Pace, Ph. D.. rro- ? fssw of philosophy in the Catholic t I'rivArsity of America, and associate f eor of the Catholic Encyclopedia, de- i; livered a striking and timely lecture imly. "The School and the Home" vas Dr. Pace's subject, and he han- f died it in a brilliant and masterly man- rer, a manner that left a vivid impres- l fion upon the audience. I In his opening remarks, Dr. Pace J fpoke of the indifference with which I parents are more than likely to view the work of the schools; an indifference by r.o means of recent gTowth, but one that gnt-s back practically to the be-Finnir.g be-Finnir.g of the school system. To the ferege parent, he said, the school is ; n institution for the relief of over- vpi:ed mothers and fathers, rather I tJl"t for the training of the child that I i the parents' view, born of the fact l that for five, and sometimes six days in . ti.e wek, t!ie school takes care of the i fhllil. 1(1 tho mnriHoMn the parent's leisure. So much the par-j par-j em realizes: but what goes on at the hoois. what the children, are learning, learn-ing, how thy are learning, etc., is a r.iattr too frequently beyond his'pur-5 his'pur-5 Mew. However, continued the lectur-; lectur-; r: "Whether parents visit the school or r.Mt. whether they are interested in its ork or quite apathetic, the fact is that i the school has made its way into the , Mie and taken over in large measure! the fun, tions and the responsibilities i t.ich belong to the home. It is not PT!y that instruction is provided in f pjbjPft! which the parent can hardly ; l expected to handle with success, and j t'.at training is siven in the arts and 5 frafts for the skill of the expert is l"fled: but also that the school under-t under-t tikes to do for fhc- child jiearly every-5 every-5 that can and should be done by Parents even to caring for he verl-j verl-j details of the child's halth'and per-j per-j ";"al appfa ranee. The parent pays the 1 and the teacher does the rest. I -n 'r this absorption adds to the i f ''ncy of the individual teacher and j what (xtent it may be regarded a? i 'l fcr!'nn,y for the community at a!f' ouostions which may for the j t he passed over. Thre is'clear-"' is'clear-"' I' t" '' Jus'! 'cation for it in the minds !' t"f;s" v ho direct our education. The "(.o, has p definite work to do by niiig- !fi(,:-e methods depends con- ''-raljly lij,.-,,, -what may be called the mat-rial that is upon the sort of j --iicreii ;;,at are j.ent tQ schooL If they 1 the right sort, if the home ;, j"'a"r''''' !' h hindrance instead of be-i be-i a h..;j, it js but naturai tr:at lie I ..nl s!" uid reach out to the work of ; ration and make sure that the (:;a ;-Ii be a fit subject for the spe- j j 'v,ork which the school undertakes. trr'''' lo any 'rnplaint against its ; j '''or'''!''z1r,g tendency the school can f '.: r i'h the plea of self-defense. 1 Pr" r""nt r,f fact- the majority of flhnts lisivp no 5cipa of entering any ''""I'laint. Far from protesting. I :', ' ,iiTY' r"!iv too glad that the school ,',-', " ""w their duties. It is a re- f t.i'ur.l' V' t!loucht and anxiety. It 1 t;iHt,'tb,'"'l ,v"' k days more blessed I P'.vm-r ,r ?i,,jn;ith. -Between nurse and t;,,' 9,1,1 ?aeher, parental policl-tii'-ro 'S !"u''ed to a minimum, and thiijpc " for tnfl really important j f,,1"1'" enough, this attitude is ? "li.j ' '"Pd into one of sharpest t.y. Thp faults that appear in - rrira.lK ' ' sPeciaJly if the appearance I r,.un h 1T,f,nipnt of embarrassment, f F hor,i i ,xl,,a'ned. And since the r tho v,',d-i 'akeri so much upon itself. I r-' ti e Coi11r'K in for the major part I "H; if not fr all. The dis- filw-avs "i!1 .n:,t'ally ensues is not I tnd i)i,a ho k'd that brings light "QuiVVi? a Pu,Tose of amendment. tUSr ,,lnucrrrit s the attitude of ''''Ine 'tl e- ',ar"cst Parents who arc c-"rav f' ;'1f'ir "hnvc -Ln thereby ?c"'t!iis v 'n h w,'rk of th school. Ctbu0' ?ltitUde S hopeful. It S , whlclj every teaclier 1 must bo thankful. But in the parent's mind it is often accompanied by hesitation hesi-tation or even by perplexity. Education, Educa-tion, as a result of its development into a distinct science, has gotten be-i be-i yond the comprehension of most people. peo-ple. There is much discoursing about theories and methods of devices. There are strange technical terms and manners man-ners of speech which only the initiated understand. And there is a literature which grows so fast that a knowledge even of the titles is by.no means easy. In view of all this 'educational activity,' activi-ty,' the layman is apt to be depressed. At any rate, he comes to think of the teacher's work and the 'doings in school' as a mysterious something which he can never hope to penetrate, but through which his child must be led to wisdom and possibly to virtue. "This, no doubt, is exaggeration; and yet it is based on fact. Education, indeed, in-deed, has appropriated the parent's function in outwardly caring for the child; but it has done more. It has laid hold upon the mind of the child, studied it, noted the beginnings of mental life and searched for the laws of mental growth. It has done this with the aid of biology, physiology and psychology. From these sciences it has learned how the mind develops, and has shaped its own course accord inarly. Doubtless, too, it has taken to itself the errors which spring up in all s-cien-tific research; and it has added to them its own unwise applications. But of some tilings it is quite certain, and upon these it feels. bound to construct its methods, thus making its own work a vital process of adaptation. "If it be asked where this knowledge has been sought and found, the answer is readily given. Consider, for instance, in-stance, the principle that teaching must be adapted to the needs of the growing grow-ing mind. Evidently this implies that well phase of growth has its particular particu-lar needs, and, consequently, that it is unwise to deal with the child as though he were an adult. But what these needs are only careful observation of the child can reveal. Or, again, take the principle that ideas to be effectual must issue in action with the whole philosophy of expression that flows from kindergarten to laboratory whense comes this, if not from watching watch-ing the child's spontaneous behavior? Suggestion, imitation, interest, reaction, reac-tion, adjustment these are simplj-names simplj-names of learned sound that are given to the most natural performances noticed no-ticed in the growing mind. So our answer an-swer is simply this: The fundamental principles of education are ascertained through an intelligent observation of the child from the beginning of life onward, on-ward, throush an investigation of the facts that are presented in every home; in one word, by bringing, into the orderly or-derly shape of law those details which the parent overlooks or merely regards as marvels that everyone should admire. ad-mire. "The science which gathers this information in-formation and formulates the laws of mental development is often eyed with suspicion. Psychology, it is thought and said is by nature so remote from education that when it does appear in the school room it meddlesf and blunders blun-ders and drives out common sense. And this view assuredly is the right one if by phychology we understand the work that is done in the laboratory with its refined methods or experimentation experi-mentation and its purely theoretical results. re-sults. But these are not the only psychological psy-chological methods," nor is the laboratory labor-atory the only place -for fruitful observation. ob-servation. We do not expect the teach-'er teach-'er to be an adept in psycho-physics; and much less can we expect the parents. par-ents. What is needed to make home and school mutually helpful is an understanding un-derstanding of certain 'fundamental principles which the teacher shall apply ap-ply to the work of systematic schooling and which the parent shall apply to the training that is given at home. The application will not be the same in both cases, because the conditions obviously ob-viously differ. But what is done in the home will further what the school ha home." Longevity of Falsehoods. We cannot be surprised at the tenacity tenac-ity with which an anti-Catholic fable survives all efforts to explode it, when we see how men of learning and research re-search continue lo live in ignorance of such matters. Seven years ago Rev. John Neville Figgis delivered a series of lectures 6n ecclesiastical history at Cambridge University. Uni-versity. Last year these lectures were published by the University Press under un-der the title, "Studies- of Political Thought from Gerson to Grotius." In one of these lectures he declares that a Jesuit is obliged to commit sin if commanded com-manded by his superiors. Being taken to task for this by a reviewer, Mr. Figgis Fig-gis quoted the words obligare ad pecca-tum. pecca-tum. which have been repeatedly explaining ex-plaining as meaning not an obligation "to commit sin," but an obligation binding "under pain of sin." The historians Leopold van Rauke and S. R. Gardiner once made the same mistake as Mr. Figgis, but they retracted retract-ed it. From the Evangelische Bund, the Protestant Alliance of Germany, has declared that 'it is deplorable that exploded ex-ploded Jesuit myths like this should occasionally oc-casionally be dished up afresh." Nevertheless, Never-theless, an English clergyman, supposed to know enough about church history to lecture at one of the universities, remains re-mains completely deaf and blind in regard re-gard to this important matter. Casket. St. George. Saint George became the patron saint of "Merrie England" in the far-off days when Richard of the Lion Heart was striking terror into the souls of the Saracens in Palestine. The story goes that, prior to the battle of Jaffa, the English king had a vision in which St. George promised victory to the Christian Chris-tian army. In this way a great impetus was given to the cult of the warrior saint; and his feast-day. the 23d of April, became a national holiday in England. When the Qrder of the Garter Gar-ter was instituted by Edward III., the name of St. George followed that of the Blessed Virgin amongst those in whose honor it was founded; and at the-present day a very large number of the English Protectant churches bear the name of the soldier saint of the fourth century. St. George was born in Cappadocia of noble Christian parents. At his fa- thcr's death, he accompanied his mother to Palestine, where she had large i estates, and there entered the Roman arm. He soon rose to the rank of colonel, and received many vmarks of the royal favor. When fresh persecutions were instituted against the Christians, St. George ventured to appeal to the emperor: but Diocletian only laughed grimly at the young soldier's pleadings. St. George immediately threw up his commission, and tore down the imperial edict from the gates of Nicodemta. He was at once thrown into prison, and there endured many tortures without flinching. As he continued firm in his profession oi the faith o Christ, he was led into Nicomedia and there beheaded. St. -George is usually represented in the armor of a Roman soldier, with a dragon under foot. Old legends relate that, while the saint was serving in the Roman army, the people of a citv named Berytus. in Syria, were much afflicted by a daily visit from a great dragon dwelling in a marsh near by. At first he was satisfied with receiving receiv-ing a meal of sheep or oxen., but when the flocks were exhausted the children under 15 years of age were sacrificed. The victims were chosen' bv lot. and one day the name of the only daughter of the King was drawn. The.-e was universal uni-versal sorrow, but the poor child was led outside the city gates to await the arrival of the horrid monster. As she stood dreading her doom. St. George, mounted on his war bor?, approached, and learned from her whv she waited. At the same moment the dragon an-peared, an-peared, and the soldier raised his sword in the name of Christ, and, making the sign of the Cross, dashed .on the terrible terri-ble creature. The struggle was ficre-but ficre-but brief. The galbint young soldier drove his lance through the beass's body, and led the maiden back-to her lather, who promised to grant St. George any favor-he might ask. The saint prayed that the king and his people peo-ple should become Christians. This v.as agreed to, and twenty thousand people : embraced the faith of Christ. This story very generally to!c in all European Euro-pean hads, fjnds ,,0 p!ai.c i:i Ule Ku-man Ku-man Martyrologv. |