OCR Text |
Show MARRIAGE HANDICAPS CLERGY. . i Some Examples of Family Ties Over-coming Over-coming Religious Duty. The following letter appears in a re- j cent issue of the Catholic Transcript of Hartford. Conn.: ! Sir Your editorial, in vour issue of ! July 27 on "Married or Celibate Clcr-S Clcr-S gy," reminded me of an interesting lil-I lil-I tie incident not long since in one of : i our large cities. " A well known priest j I was called one night to a large the. j where there were unfortunately many , j seriously injured and dying victims. In ; I the course of his ministration to the . i Catholics who were among the suffer- j ; crs he met a young Protestant clergy- man, who lie knew well and who had j come on a similar errand. When all ! was over, the young Episcopalian minister, min-ister, meeting the priest again, said: j "Father, we are both- pretty tired by . this time and 1 am ge:ng to a restaurant res-taurant for a cup of coffee before re-i re-i turning home; will you not join me?" "I am sorry," replied the priest, "but l it i:-i after midnight and I must remain fasting in order, that I may celebrate I mass in the-morning, and so I must de- cline your invitation." ! "Ah!" was the jocular response, "that is where I have the 'cinch on you! Be-i Be-i ing a Protestant, there .is no law of my church compelling me to fast now and I can take the refreshment I want." A few weeks later another tire occurred oc-curred and the. priest and the Protest-I Protest-I ant clergyman met-again. The 'burn- ing building had .fallen in. and some unfortunates were pinned beneath the wreck. The priest crawled in under fallen beams and. wreckage . and gave the last sacraments, to the Catholics ho found while the firemen were working heroically for their rescue from almost certain death. On 'returning to the street from the ruins Father S met the Rev. Mr. J . "Well, Mr. J s'-.why did you not follow me? There were Protestants amongst those sufferers who would have welcomed your ministrations, in what may very likely be their last few moments on earth." "Oh, father, I should be glad to have done something for them but but, I am engaged to be married, and I promised prom-ised my fiancee that I would do nothing noth-ing to put my life in danger." "Then," said Father S , "this is where I have the 'cinch' on vou! I shall never have any duty to fiancee or wife to. prevent me from taking any risk of life or limb in fulfilling my spiritual ministry to dying souls!" I am a convert to the church and grew up, of course, under the ministrations ministra-tions of a married Protestant clergy. Undoubtedly many clergymen's wives are excellent, religious-minded women, who are a help and not a hindrance in the parish. But on the other hand, great are the trials and tribulations Of many a minister, especially in the country, from the mistakes of their indiscreet in-discreet and perhaps over-zealous wives, who feel their official importance. impor-tance. An injudicious better-half whose tongue has gotten beyond control con-trol for the time being has set many a parish into factional warfare and driven driv-en the poor minister out. Even a minister min-ister cannot select a wife, as one Would a clerk, purely for serviceable qualities in his professional work. He marries, as other men do, '-from sentiment and personal attractions and often finds himself much handicapped in consequence. conse-quence. But even when that is not the case, he cannot marry without incurring very positive duties to wife and children, chil-dren, duties which must be met and yet duties which prevent him from giving himself as absolutely to his work for the good of other men's souls as. he might and often wishes he could. I know a most estimable Protestant clergyman cler-gyman who had been eminently successful suc-cessful in building up his church in a certain section of the country and who was in consequence elected to be a missionary bishop in a distant part of our land where he was particularly I fitted to put a somewhat neglected field into a flourishing condition. He was a ! reallj- earnest and good man, who saw the need and wanted to go, but he was obliged to decline because his wife's health would not allow of her living in the section to which he had been called. You have spoken for the clergy and punctured Mr. Bogert's little delusion about there being many "Roman priests" who secretly deplored the church's rule of celibacy for them. I am sure you are right. I have been a Catholic for twelve years and more and have had an opportunity of knowing very many priests in different places, some in France, some in America, in the relations of an intimate friendship and never once have I perceived the faintest discontent with th.is salutary rule of discipline. I may speak for the laity, too, who feel most strongly how this absence of human ties and duties binds their spiritual shepherds to their flocks and accounts largely for that almost al-most passionate devotion to our priests and pastors who are so ready at any moment to spend and be spent foi our welfare and the salvation of our immortal im-mortal souls. JESSE ALBERT LOCKE. Haekensaek, X. J. ' |