OCR Text |
Show THE CATHOLIC IN SOCIETY. llie late Mrs. Craigie, in her last and partly unfinished book. "The Dream and the Business," writing; of the Catholic-convert woman, and what she has to endure. in non-Catholic society, says: "If a Catholic woman is obliged to 'live "in a' Protestant - family, or entirely in a non-Catholic atmosphere, she mentally starves to death. Iu her effort to live up to what she knows is right, but which appears like tyranny to her family and friends, her life becomes a sort of martvrdom. And what makes it harder is that those who surround sur-round her act as if she were wrong, they right, and that her peeuKar ideas are tolerated because they lil.e her personally. One of the reasons why a Catholic can never be indefinite and uncertain in her belief, or a prey to shifting opinions, is because be-cause Catholicity is a positive religion; it is not a thing- of negations, of giving salvation to those who have not done or believed . certain things. Catholicity leaves an indelible stamp upon the soul. It is not enough that Catholics should no do such and such a thing, or not to believe certain doctrines, doc-trines, but it. is a matter of positive doing as well as believing, of works as well as faith. It lays down positive laws and, while making allowance for the weakness of human nature, yet it affects every breath one draws, every word uttered, every thought forged in the mind. It will not be long before be-fore she discovers that the real Protestant mind and the true Catholic mind can never come together to-gether at any point. The Catholic woman in a Protestant family is constantly called upon for explanations or excuses for her actions. If she goes to earlv mass she is faced with such a question as 'Why is it better to go to church early in the morning than any other time?' And when sli3 explains about mass and the fasting priest, she is met with an incredulous stare or an ill-concealed sneer. The Catholic woman has to possess a very sweet disposition to bear these things with calmness. calm-ness. But the constant insinuation that she is fooled, deceived or cajoled wears on her mind in the course of time and she must be almost ah angel to stand it. If her friends do not imply that she "is suffering from temporary aberration of mind, they hint that she is 'influenced' by some designing priest or Catholic friend. Then if she shows any disposition to lose her temper or resent their remarks, re-marks, if she is discouraged at the coldness at home, it is said she is unhappy and regrets her step. Catholicity thank heaven is not fashionable. It is the religion of the poor, the humble and ignorant, ig-norant, but its detractors forget that being universal, uni-versal, it is also the faith of princes, the rich and the intellectual." i |