Bishop Buddy Scrapbook 1937 (2)

CHIMES

CHIMES

Deep woven in the fibers of their hearts is the scene described by St. Luke, when God sent his Archangel to an obscure insignificant town, to one of the most despised race of people, "to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the House of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel being come in said to her:-'Hail full of grace the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women' ... and Mary said, 'Be- hold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word.'". Before these significant words were spoken, womankind had sunk to the lowest depths-the plaything and toy of the caprice of man. The Almighty designs chose a humble virgin to lift woman from the mire of degredation, to place her on a pedestal as the inspiration and the help- mate of man. And so today we hail the Bless- ed Mother of God and beg of her to throw around us all the mantle of her protection. When the forces of evil speak of the eman- cipation of woman, they mean her degreda- tion with a very high visibility. Instead of emancipation why not foster elevation to duty? The heavy backward drag of those who know not God and who ignore his laws, makes it unfashionable to speak of innocence or angelhood, but with the knowledge and wis- dom acquired here you can chant your own Magnificat of faith, ·hope, love and gratitude. The wisdom and knowledge granted to you in this holy environment leave no room for doubt. The truth you have acquired speaks with divine authority and informs you that all branches of learning, unified and coordinated, rest on the form and framework of Christian philosophy. You are now equipped to pierce through the sham of false teaching and to re- fute the noisy formulas of sophistry that would separate you from your. divine Lover. You are witnesses that virtue is power and courage, joy and beauty, sympathy and bless- edness. You are witnesses that there is no conflict between faith and science, that they move in parallel lines "twin daughters of the one Heavenly Father." The progress of the church, which is the progress of civilization, JUNE, 1938

rates as our women rate. No wonder the heathens of the first centuries could exclaim in admiration, "Quales mulieres habent Christiani.'' My dear friends, you see in these precious souls why the church accentuates the neces- sity of Catholic education that her children may learn to live the integrating principles of religion in every phase of life. These grad- uates exemplify our Holy Father's definition of true education-That it "consists essential- ly in the preparation of man for what he ought to be and do here below in order to reach his eternal destiny." Well may the class of '3 8 chant with the royal psalmist: "Lord thou hast proved me and known me, thou hast understood my thoughts afar off ; my path and my line thou hast searched out. Be- hold, oh Lord, thou hast known all things, the last and those of old. Thou hast formed me, and hast laid thy hand upon me ... I will extol thee, 0 Lord, for thou hast upheld me: I will stand upon my watch and fix my foot upon the tower." (Ps. 138 & 29). You are now equipped to proclaim to the whole world that you believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth, that believing you may have hope in His name. You stand before mankind con- fessors to the living union of man with God -living because of vital acts, thoughts, de- sires, actions. Conviction is the result of thinking, and you leave here convinced that man must recognize the obligation of a living union with God by submission-obedience; that the Supreme Creator demands this as surely as his infinite wisdom and sanctity must demand right order in all things. Your col- lege education informs you that irrational beings do the will of their Maker perforce, while man endowed with reason and free will uses his intellect to acknowledge God's su- premacy and his will to obey God's law. From this premise you conclude logically that wor- ship is due the Supreme Being, gratitude to the Divine benefactor, love to the Sovereign God. While you understand that your free will kingdom is an absolute monarchy and 109

sands. "Blessed are they who do and teach. They shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven." But I am thinking of the cap and gown investiture of last evening, deeply touched by all that was heard and seen. As the seniors and juniors advanced along the line of march, the great Gothic tower dimmed by the gath- ering shadows appeared to assume even great- er proportions, seemed filled with ancient fig- ures, each one embracing the three arms of the Holy Cross-poverty, chastity, and obedi- ence. This trysting place of sacred traditions and memories of the past, stood to sentinel the scene below. It seemed like a wedding of the old and the new. You have often heard that it is the cause which gives luster to the deed. Achievements never live which have for their object the glorification of an individual. Great scholars there have been, gifted with abundance of talent, but they were scholars for themselves and when they died their deeds perished with them and the world was no better than before. But when life blood is poured out in the daily grind of unseen duty, coupled with immortal principles, the work is imperishable. Cheops built the pyramids as a resting place for his remains and to perpetuate his name. We visit the pyramids, gaze in wonder at the gigantic proportions, and smile with amusement at the royal vanity. The social register, the kind that ignores virtue, is flaunted before us as an index of the important. Scanning the list we are amazed at the brazen lack of morals and manners, and laugh with contempt at the gilded showcase. Contrast the empty vanity of worldlings with the vision and valor of the builders of Saint Mary's. These turned the stubborn soil and lifted massive walls, cross-crowned unto the sky. Through sheltered corridors, humble, veil-dad figures pass, with them swift years and the souls of men. In each heart lives a prayer; resolute will fraught with the energy of genius, and the cause?-to mould the moulders of a nation's destiny. JUNE, 1938

that indefinable something,-could it be the "glorified look of the Madonna"? My dear graduates, it is a consoling privi- lege, to be with you during these solemn days -to bless you, to offer with you the Adorable Sacrifice, to invoke the Holy Spirit to adorn your minds with His seven-fold gifts, to en- rich your hearts with His tenderness and mercy, to mirror in your lives something of the fragrance and dazzling splendor of the Alma Mater Redemptoris. The academic procession recalls very many cherished memories of another proces- sion of the first pioneers-those valiant re- ligious who came from Bertrand to face the hardships and privations of the first founda- tion of Saint Mary's, Notre Dame. With ma- jestic tread and noble bearing see them mar- shal their forces of co-workers and co-founders as they pass down the generations in review and on to the citation to eternal honors! What a beautiful heritage is ours in the lives of Mother Angela and Sister Euphemia, Mother Augusta, Mother Annunciata, Moth- er Perpetua, Mother Aquinas, Mother Paul- ine and other great souls who are praying with us today. What a marvelous union of gentleness and strength, what an inspiring conquest of life! They had conquered every foe-shallowness, neglect of mercies, dead- ness of heart, worldliness, vanity, and they joined with wisdom and knowledge virtue, with virtue sacrifice, with sacrifice patience, with patience goodness and love. You understand, my dear friends, that be- yond the immortality of the soul there is the immortality of influence. The ripple of each sacrifice, illumined by Divine Grace moves silently across the world enlightening and lift- ing each soul it passes, long after the human agent has ceased its action. Well may the pioneers of Saint Mary's cry out with Horace: . " "Exegi monumentum aere perenmus - They shall not die. Indeed, even today, their memories ring with reality, even today the glow of their fervent lives still warms the hearts and sways the minds of countless thou-

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