Bishop Buddy Scrapbook 1941-1945

benefit of mankind.

From that evil beginning there has been

no peace. They cast lots anew for the seamless garment of the Man of Sorrows; they have rent it in a thousand pieces in an attempt to scatter the sheep of the flock. Note Lord Macaulay's - a non-Catholic - tribute, a century ago: 11 She (the Catholic Church) was great and respected before the Saxon had set foot on Briton, before the Frank had crossed the Rhine; when Grecian eloquence still flourished in Antioch, and when idols were still worshipped in the temple of Mecca •.. extremes of thought and culture met in her bosom, and there blended into unity. Ancient civilization and modern barbarism had hurled their force against her and each, in turn, had knelt at her feet. Empires had passed away, yot the Catholic Church stood erect amid the ruins." My dear people, you of this present generation witness a repetition of what Macaulay wrote of over half a century ago. Even today, with all our vaunted progress and civilization, the Catholic Church still suffers frightful persecution. In this very generation, Germany, Spain, Russia, Mexico have been drenched with the blood of martyred Catholics - bishops, priests, Religious, young and old - but their blood nourished the soil for a second Spring and even a more vigorous Catholicity. The great convert Cardinal Newman has said that "every death (thus suffered) was the parent of a thousand lives'; . St. Augustine - whose spiritual sons carry on his learning and piety in oup midst, declares: 11 The enemies of the Church, themselves die - 4 -