John Peter Michael McCann

[John is the youngest of ten. In his speech he will tell you about his educational struggles -- but his perseverance paid off during his senior year. Not only was he no longer "at the bottom of the class," he made Honor Roll twice (and Honorable Mention in this year's final average) -- with a cumulative GPA of 3.0. Congratulations, John!]

Good afternoon, Br. Andre Marie, Sister Marie Therese, Sister Maria Philomena, Dr. Fahey, Dad, Mom, and all my family and friends. Thank you all for coming here to support me during this event celebrating a very important milestone of my life.

Graduation is an event that allows a student to look back and reflect on the journey he or she experienced during the schooling process. When I was analyzing my journey, I discovered certain elements, virtues, and emotions that I wanted to discuss.

Progress: (Advancement toward one’s goals, to develop or improve)

I never had an easy time with learning. I started off having to take kindergarten twice. When my parents realized that public schools were a danger to my spiritual well-being, my mother home-schooled me. I don’t blame her for my inability to learn; it was just there, and during those years of home schooling I fell behind . . . Really badly! My mother was able to school me herself for three years — until her life got complicated and she was forced to put me in a public school for the last quarter of that year. The board of directors decided to place me at a fifth grade level, accompanied by “special classes”. I couldn’t read or spell to save my life.

So, when I moved to NH, I was just a bit behind.

John studies his catechism

When I tested for Immaculate Heart of Mary School, I was at a second grader’s level. I knew about as much as your average seven-year-old. Now, I was twelve at the time, mind you. So, the Sisters put me in fourth grade. For a twelve-year-old to be told he is going to have to go to fourth grade — after he just completed his fifth grade — is pretty hard to take.

Christmas Play (John is the tall shepherd)

To add insult to injury, I was always the one who was behind. Every one else understood things quicker, got better grades, and beat me in the classroom competitions time and time again. This seemed like the common theme of my I.H.M. experience (barring my Senior year). But during these years of strenuous progression, I have received quite an education. I now have an understanding of Algebra, Grammar, Geometry, Church History, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Latin, Rhetoric, American History, Literature, Trigonometry, Logic; I think you get the point!

All Saints' Day

So in short, this school has not only taught me an amazing amount of useful knowledge, but it also taught me to take difficulties and use them to improve myself giving me a stronger character.

Perseverance: (Steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success)

Aside from being older then other students, I wasn’t able to get good grades. I tried my hardest — only to barely pass with less than average grades. But I did learn . . . slowly and painfully . . . but I did learn.

John, Clare, and Rose (seventh grade) in "Esther"

One of the things I learned was simple math. If I’m in fourth grade now… by the time I get to twelfth grade I should be . . . twenty! Aren’t people usually seventeen when they graduate? Ooooooh boy!  I did skip sixth grade, but I knew going into ninth grade that there was no longer any hope of skipping grades (due to the necessity of acquiring a certain amount of credits).

The McCann cleaning gene is showing up

Year after year of struggling as hard as I could, I continued to get very undesirable grades. I would always try and analyze my way out, for instance: “This couldn’t possibly be what God wanted me to suffer.” Eventually, I was fed up with it. (I was eighteen at the time.) It was the beginning of my junior year; I made up my mind to drop out. I was telling myself things, like: “There is always the G.E.D . . .  It’s not like I was throwing my life away. It seems to work out for other people. I am being responsible. I have a plain a plan. I going to get my G.E.D. and become an electrician’s apprentice in South Dakota. I’m just not meant to be in school any more.” (There was a girl in SD, of course; that made the matter all that much more urgent.)

On the USS Cassen Young

So, I told Sister Maria Philomena, in a very matter-of-fact way, that I wasn’t going to finish that year. She sent me to Sister Marie Therese.

Sister Marie Therese listened to what I had to say. She treated me like an adult, and gave me some good advice, and said she would respect my decision if it were well thought out. This was the catalyst that made me follow her advice to go on a retreat. I wanted everyone to respect my decision, and what better way was there than convincing everyone that it was God’s will? (Because, I already convinced myself of this, you see.) On retreat, I discovered that everyone else was right and I was wrong . . . what do you know! Reassured that what I was doing was good and profitable, I made a firm resolution to finish what I started; and, I haven’t looked back since. And let me tell you: now that I’m here looking back, I wouldn’t change a thing.

Looking back (and sealing envelopes at the same time!)

Patience: (The capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset)

Spelling Bees . . . Latin . . . Research Papers . . . Memory Items . . . Foot Ball . . . SPELLING BEES!!! Now, I’ll be the first on to confess that I was lacking in patience at times — especially on Fridays. But I did tolerate a lot of delay, trouble, and suffering in my I.H.M. experience. And, since there are troublesome hurdles in every walk of life, I’m really glad I had the extensive training in this virtue that I got. It was even conveniently worked into my curriculum.

A vicious villain (RBFF melodrama)

The Future: (The time or a period of time following the moment of speaking; time regarded as still to come)

As I already mentioned in my internship presentation three weeks ago, I’m going to begin my adult life in Kansas — where I will become an electrician. A couple of people asked,“ Why Kansas?” So, I’m going to explain my reasoning.

Science Fair

I believe it is prudent for a graduate to buckle down and take things seriously as soon as possible so as not to get caught in that weird “after-school-but-before-life” spell. So, as a solution or precaution against this danger, I’ve decided to jump on in and sink or swim. The drastic change of atmosphere will push me into taking my situation seriously and the lack of people taking care of my needs will make me anything but complacent.

Spelling Bee!

Aside from being a precaution against that “in-between-period”, there are a couple of things calling me to Kansas as well. There is family out there: my brother Tim and his family. This gives me a few advantages — one of which will be to give me a place to stay when I arrive, and Tim and I have a mutual understanding of how temporary the situation will be. Another thing is that Kansas’ living expenses are not as challenging as New Hampshire’s, so this will be an easier start for my initial years of self-support. And last but not least, there is a massive traditional Catholic community out there that I was very interested in seeing for myself. I would appreciate any and all prayers that could be spared for me in this very important transitional period in my life.

Graduating Class of 2010

Gratitude: (The quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness)

When looking back at the whole journey, the primary emotion that I feel is gratitude. I have a great deal of gratitude — not only for the excellent education that I’ve received — but also for all the people who made it possible. The people who taught me, and people who helped me stay on course. And the only way I know how to express my gratitude, is to thank the parties responsible.

Sister Marie Therese: You are a wonderful principal, and you really helped me look at the choices I had to make, concerning my leaving or staying, with a logical mind-set. Thank you; I probably wouldn’t have finished if it weren’t for you.

The fastest boy in school!

Sister Mary Joseph: You taught me for my first year here (which was a very difficult one). I also wanted to thank you for my superior coloring technique and penmanship skills (which are due to your ruthless tutoring).

Brother Louis Marie: You were always a very needed relief during the very trying breaks. You were always there to crack a joke or remind me why I was there. Thank you for consistently elevating my intentions to a higher ideal.

John and Michael ('09) disecting a fetal pig

Sister Mary Peter: You taught me for my seventh grade year, and I’m afraid I was a bit of a troublemaker for you. But more importantly, you were always there to try and calm me down when my frustration built up within me. Some times I would avoid you when I was getting angry because I didn’t want you to cheer me up, but yet, somehow, you always found me. So, thank you for being there to calm the beast.

His real self comes out!

Sister Maria Perpetua: You taught me in both fifth grade and eighth grade, and it was your sweet manner accompanied with your strict discipline that enabled you to teach me so much. Thank you for making me write out the word “would” (as in should & could) eighty times. I can’t help but think of you every time I go to write it.

Professor: I’m glad I had you for at least one of my classes for each of the last six years. You always treated me like you actually enjoyed talking to me, and you were always willing to let me vent. I probably would have gone mad if you weren’t here to help me. Thank you for being more then just my wicked cool math teacher; you were also my friend – in whom I could trust without the slightest hesitation.

What will I do without John in the Blueberry Jammers?

Sister Maria Philomena: Four years straight! I’m not sure what life is going to be like without you for more than a summer. It almost seems like a sloppy divorce. You taught me more than I can generalize. One of the subjects I’m most grateful that I had you to teach me was religion, but there is no way I can express my deep gratitude for all that you’ve done for me. Thank you for giving and giving, day after day. Surely I wouldn’t be the man I am today if God didn’t give be the privilege of having you as my high school teacher.

Mr. & Mrs. McCann (front) at grad party

My parents: You not only paid for my tuition so I could attend this school, but you convinced me to keep on “keepin’ on.” I would like to thank my mother for doing her best to make sure I didn’t throw the opportunity of receiving the excellent education of I.H.M., and my father for teaching me — by example — dogged perseverance

The way I see it, the only way I can give anything back to all the people who gave me so much is to be the best I can be, share all the benefits the school has given me, and there by show the world what a great school I.H.M. is.

Agent 145-and-a-half in "A Case for Two Spies"

I am so glad that I had the privilege of an education at I.H.M. not only for the reasons I stated earlier, but, more importantly, I’ve acquired a dependency on daily sacraments, a habit I plan on preserving even in Kansas.

John with a relic of his patron saint

I can’t pretend to know exactly what my future holds, but, if things go as I would like them to, I will get married (sooner rather than latter), convince my wife to move to New Hampshire, and have many many children. I would be very happy to see all of them attend I.H.M.

Thank you.

One prize option

Another prize

IHM School is in the middle of an exciting raffle fundraiser. (This is actually our annual festival raffle moved up a month or two.) For more information about tickets and prizes, please click here.

1st Prize: $500 (cash) § 2nd Prize: Diamond Ring

Tickets: $1 each — Six for $5 — Fifteen for $10  •  Drawing July 11, 2010
(In accordance with our Richmond Raffle Permit, tickets may not be sold to individuals under 16 years of age)

Thank you for supporting Immaculate Heart of Mary School!

The winner of the diamond ring will be able to choose from the following two rings.

Ring #1: 14 karat white gold band with seven (real!) diamonds — three are baguette cut, and five are Princess cut. This ring was worth about $800 new; the price on it now (having been worn) is about $530.

Ring #2: 14 karat yellow gold; one diamond & two rubies. This ring, new, would have been about $1200; used is worth about $800.

Ring #1: Seven diamonds in a white gold/silver setting

Ring #1 - note the different cuttings

Ring #1 - on a woman's hand for size reference (the ring itself is about a 7.5)

Ring #2: Two rubies and a diamond in a yellow gold setting

Ring #2 - note the elegant band design

Ring #2: on a woman's hand for reference

Anyone interested in purchasing raffle tickets to help IHM can speak to any school family or send a check to:

Immaculate Heart of Mary School

95 Fay Martin Road

Richmond, NH 03470

or call 603-239-6485 to make a donation with a credit card (we can’t sell raffle tickets through PayPal). Please be sure to include name, address, and phone number so that we can fill your tickets our correctly. Thank you!

May Procession 2010

We had a beautiful day yesterday with five First Holy Communions and our annual May Procession. The school children have central roles in the procession, during which four statues are crowned. Our Lady is truly the Queen of our Hearts! Keep “reading” for pictures from this event.

Table of contents for Mother Love

1. The Christian Training of Children – Early Cares
2. The Christian Training of Children – New and more Difficult Cares
3. The Christian Training of Children – Admonition to Mother
4. The Christian Training of Children – Combating Concupiscence of the Flesh
5. The Christian Training of Children – Combating Concupiscence of the Eyes
6. The Christian Training of Children – Combating Pride
7. The Christian Training of Children – Rewards and Punishments
8. The Christian Training of Children – The Father’s Role
9. The Christian Training of Children – Prayers
10. The Christian Training of Children – Maxims and Sayings
11. The Christian Training of Children – Co-operation with Pastor and Teacher
12. The Christian Training of Children – Catechetical Instruction
13. The Christian Training of Children – Preparing a Child for Confession
14. The Christian Training of Children – Preparation for Holy Communion
15. The Christian Training of Children – Care of Young Adults
16. Mother Love

Little Book of Instructions for Christian Mothers [continued]
(from Mother Love – A Manual for Christian Mothers – by Rev. Pius Franciscus, O.M.Cap., 1926)

On the Christian Training of Children

Chapter XIV – How a Christian Mother Should Assist Her Children to Prepare for Holy Communion.

The next great event in the young life of your child is its first Holy Communion. Until comparatively recent times it was the common practice of pastor and people to postpone this event to a time when the child was considered to be of a clearer understanding, and thus it would happen that children of thirteen and fourteen years had not yet received their first Holy Communion and many had not even made their first confession. Generally a child was not admitted to Holy Communion until it had reached the age of twelve years or had graduated from the parish school. This practice was introduced because it was deemed unwise and even wrong to allow children of a more tender age to approach the Table of the Lord, as they were considered too thoughtless for so holy an action.

But this practice was not at all in accord with the law of the Church, which had been promulgated by the Fourth Lateran Council in the year 1215, and which reads as follows: “All the faithful of both sexes, after coming to the use of reason, shall confess their sins alone to their own priest, at least once a year and devoutly receive Holy Communion at least at Easter time, unless upon the advice of their own priest and for some reasonable cause it should be deemed wise to abstain for a while.” This law was not only approved and confirmed by the Holy Council of Tent, about three hundred years after, but this Council even pronounced anathema on those who hold a contrary opinion: “If any one shall deny that all the faithful of both sexes, who have attained the use of reason, are obliged to receive Communion every year, at least at Easter time, according to the precepts of Holy Mother Church, let him be anathema.”

Therefore, Pope Pius X of happy memory, who deeply deplored the above mentioned custom which deprived children of Holy Communion, though they had attained the age of reason, once more promulgated the old law of the Church and condemned all contrary opinions. Then he also declared at what age a child should be considered as having attained sufficient use of reason for Holy Communion in the following words: “The age of discretion required for Holy Communion is that at which the child can distinguish the Eucharistic bread from common and material bread, and knows how to approach the altar with devotion.” Finally he approved and commanded to be observed throughout the world the following rules:

1) The age of discretion required both for confession and Communion is the time when the child begins to reason, that is about the seventh year, sometimes after, sometimes even before. From this time on the obligation of satisfying the precepts of both Confession and Communion begins.

2)    Both for First Confession and First Communion a complete knowledge of Christian Doctrine is not necessary. The child will, however, be obliged to gradually learn the whole catechism according to its intellectual ability.

3) The knowledge of Christian Doctrine required in children in order to be properly prepared for First Communion is that they understand according to their capacity those mysteries of Faith which are necessary as a means of salvation, that they be able to distinguish the Eucharist from common and material bread, and also approach the Sacred Table with the devotion suitable to their age.

4) The obligation of the precepts of Confession and Communion which rests upon the child, falls back principally upon those in whose care they are, that is, parents, confessors, teachers and their pastor. According to the Roman Catechism, however, it belongs to the father or to the person taking his place, as also to the confessor, to admit the child to First Holy Communion.

5) The pastors shall take care to announce and distribute General Communion once or several times a year to the children, and on these occasions they shall admit not only First Communicants but also others who with the consent of their parents or their confessors, have already been admitted to the Sacred Table before. For both classes several days of instruction and preparation shall precede.

6) Those who have the care of children should use all diligence so that after First Communion the children shall often approach the Holy Table, even daily, if possible, as Jesus Christ and Mother Church desire, and that they do it with a devotion becoming their age. They should bear in mind their most important duty which obliges them to have the children present at the public instructions in catechism, otherwise they must supply this religious instruction in some other way.

7) The custom of not admitting children to confession, or of not absolving them when they have attained the age of reason, is absolutely condemned. Wherefore the Ordinaries, using those means which the law gives them, shall see that it is done away with.

8) It is an utterly detestable abuse not to administer Viaticum and Extreme Unction to åof infants. The Ordinaries shall proceed severely against those who do not abandon this custom.

The foregoing are the instructions of the Holy Father, the representative of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in His name repeats in other words the rebuke of Christ to His apostles: “Let little children come to Me, and forbid them not.” We all have been too stingy in allowing children to get closer to the love of Christ and in union with Him; and it surely was the spirit of Christ that urged the Pope to be the champion o f the little ones. God be praised!

Now, dear Christian mother, after your duty has been so clearly defined by the Father of Christendom, can you hold back in lending your aid to lead that innocent boy or girl of yours nearer to Christ through Holy Communion? Oh, let it not be said, that you are less anxious to have your children in the arms and in the heart of Jesus, than those Jewish mothers of yore, who brought their children to Jesus for His blessing!

Yes, Christian Mother bringing your children nearer, closer to Jesus—this must be the object of all your efforts in promoting their proper education. These efforts must begin early in life. But with the dawn of reason they must be directed towards arousing in your child a deep appreciation of Christ’s love for all of us and, indeed, for each one of us in particular. As has been remarked before, this does not mean that a long elaborate narration of all that Christ did for us is to be told the little one, but it means that, whenever an occasion presents itself, you should use it to give the child a short explanation.

A few examples will indicate to you what I mean. For instance, you are taking your child out for a little walk in the fresh air. (I presuppose here that your child is about four or five years old, and is an average child.) On your walk you pass a church. Like every good Catholic you ought to stop in and pay your respects to our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament and, certainly, you will take your child along. After you have made a devout genuflection and have taken Holy Water and made the Sign of the Cross, which you have your child do also, you will kneel down and make a brief act of faith and adoration of our Blessed Lord in the tabernacle. Then it might be well to lead your child up to the Communion railing and call its attention to the Sanctuary Lamp and explain briefly the meaning of it, that it burns day and night to show the constant presence of Our Lord in the tabernacle. Point to the tabernacle door and tell the child that Jesus is locked in behind that door, because He loves us and wants to be with us always. This might be enough for one time. At some other time you might tell the child that Jesus is there in the tabernacle just as He was here on earth when He lived among the Jewish people in the Holy Land. Again you may tell it how we cannot see Jesus there because He hides Himself under the cover of bread, because we might be afraid of him if He were there with all of His Greatness and Power. Never keep the child in church too long, so that it does not become weary.

In these and similar ways the child should be taught to love the Prisoner of the Tabernacle, so that by the time it starts to school, it may be acquainted with the Mystery of the Holy Eucharist, and may more intelligently follow the instructions on this subject by the priest. Parents that seldom or never direct their children’s attention to this mystery as well as other mysteries of our Holy Faith, need not be surprised if the priest sometimes finds it necessary to postpone the First Communion to a later age than the accepted age of seven years, when every child should have so much understanding as to distinguish good from bad, and the Eucharistic bread from common bread.

But mother should not only be interested in this remote preparation for the child’s First Holy Communion, she must also interest herself in the proximate preparation. As soon as she hears that her boy or girl is one of the privileged First Communicants, she should aid the priest by every means in her power. In the first place, she should add a special prayer to the child’s regular morning and evening prayer to obtain from the Divine Goodness the grace that the child may make a worthy and devout First Communion. An Our Father and a Hail Mary will serve as well as any other prayer, if only each time the Our Father and Hail Mary is preceded by the words “for the grace of a good communion” or some similar words. The following prayer may be recommended for its simplicity:

Prayer for the Grace of a Worthy Communion

O my dearest Jesus, soon I shall be allowed to receive You into my heart. You, O Jesus, Who are my God, my Lord, my Redeemer and Savior. I am glad, because I love You and want You always. But, dear Jesus, my heart is so small and so poor, that it makes me afraid to take in so great a Lord. I wish I could make it as rich and as great as heaven, then, I know, it would be worthy. I cannot make it so worthy. Still, I need You, Jesus, and You want me; otherwise You would not have said: Let the little children come to me, and forbid them not. Therefore I come to open my heart, so that You can live in it forever. Oh, keep it clean and pure and make it rich with Your heavenly Grace, and it will always be a worthy dwelling-place, until at last You will take it with You into Your own happy home in heaven. Help me to be good and to keep me from every sin, even a little one.

O Blessed Mary, Mother of Jesus and my Mother, dear Guardian Angel, Protect and help me. Amen. Hail Mary.

Besides such daily prayer, mother should also drill her child in those fundamental truths which all must know to save their souls These are six, namely,

1)    There is only one God.

2)    In God there are three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

3)    God created all things, and rules and governs them.

4)    The Son of God became man and died on the Cross to save us.

5)    God rewards the good and punishes the wicked.

6)    The human soul will never die, and grace is necessary to be saved.

Then help to get a clear idea into the mind of your child about the Holy Eucharist. This is not so hard, if you will tell the child again and again the story of the Last Supper, and show from Christ’s many miracles how nothing is impossible to the power of God. Tell those miracles also in a child-like way and in deep faith, and the child will soon grasp that under the appearances of bread and wine the body and blood of Jesus Christ does exist in the Holy Eucharist.

As the day of its Holy Communion approaches, mother will do well also to speak of the First Holy Communions of the Saints and of other good, great men, and how they considered no day of their lives happier than the day on which they were privileged to receive into their souls for the first time the Lord of Heaven and Earth. Who will describe the joys of a mother’s and a father’s heart, when their little one in all its innocence and purity of the baptismal graces goes forward to the altar-steps to receive? Many a good father and mother have shed tears of joy and happiness on such an occasion, and surely they experienced at those moments a foretaste of the heavenly reunion in Christ in the next world. Indeed, in comparison to this happiness of having their innocent children united with their Divine Savior in the Holy Eucharist all other earthly joys must seem to them like so much dross and vanity. A warm, sincere faith in the mysteries of our holy religion, united with a supreme confidence in their fulfillment on occasions like the first Confession and the First Communion of their own child, will surely make life’s burdens and trials seem lighter and easier to bear.

After its first Holy Communion mother should frequently recall to the child’s memory the extraordinary grace which it received and strive also to urge it on to keep itself worthy of enjoying the same great happiness even every day. If parents and children would become more devoutly familiar with the Holy Eucharist through frequent and even daily Communion, there can be no doubt that ultimately the peace of Christ would reign in their homes and only rarely would the devil of discord and jealousy and hate gain an entrance there. The Holy Eucharist is the center of life in the Church, and the Holy Eucharist must also become the center of life in every Catholic home, if the principles of Christ are to bring forth there worthy fruits of virtue and perfection.

Table of contents for Education - Necessary for Life

1. Toward a Deeper Understanding of the Powers of Life
2. As They Transcend the Material
3. The Acquisition of Wisdom and the Transmission of Culture

Our Lord Himself is the Educator par excellence and in the Great Commission, which was His last directions to the apostles before His ascension, He gave His Mystical Body a teaching mission: “Going, therefore, teach ye all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things, whatsoever I have commanded you.” (St. Matthew 28:19-20) Throughout history, the Church, in fulfilling this mission, has encountered people in every level of society, at every level of education. Her success often depended on the level of education she finds. The Greeks & Romans, with their liberal education, ordered societies, just laws and lofty ideals, proved the most fertile soil for the reception of Wisdom on the highest level. With others, works of charity had to come first so that people could lift their eyes above survival mode (as after the Barbarian invasions or in Post-Revolution France) — they have to be lifted above survival mode before they can see the beauty of eternal things.

I have some examples to show that, regardless of method or curriculum, the aim of the Church is the same: the formation of Catholic men and women in this world, for the next. It was painful to limit the examples because this is a constant theme throughout Church history. Remember the powers of life — REPEAT — and see how they apply spiritually –transcending the material (board): Nutrition, people are being fed knowledge; growth, knowledge is being actively applied; reproduction, the Faith is being spread in society. Remember also our definition of education: it includes the transmission of culture: an environment that will aid, support, nurture, sustain this natural & supernatural life as well as being an expression of their Faith which in turn will draw others to it.

First we’ll take survival education. And for my example here, I’d like to use the Iroquois in the seventeenth century — around the time of the Eight North American martyrs.

Pioneer Priests of North America – to the Iroquois pg. xiii ff. – gives a clear word picture of their life.

“They were an intelligent race, but unfortunately having determined to destroy or assimilate all other nations, they directed all their energies to the prosecution of war. They knew nothing of agriculture, and were satisfied with the maize, beans and squash raised by their squaws. The mystery of well-digging was too deep for them, so they had to keep close to the lakes and river courses to live. They have left no pottery of any value, and being ignorant of the textile arts, made their clothing of the skins of wild beasts. . . . [their long houses] were swarming with vermin and reeking with disease. They were divided into sections . . . but without any pretense or possibility of privacy. . . Their personal habits were filthy in the extreme. . . . They ate the most disgusting things, and boasted of their prowess in that regard. Yet, though voracious gluttons, they starved uncomplainingly when food was lacking–which was often. . . . Morally, the Iroquois were very degraded . . . [their abominations are only hinted at in the writings of the missionaries] . . . the children were never punished, and were allowed to grow up like animals . . . “

We have all heard of the tortures and cannibalism these Indians practiced on their prisoners. These sights were often introduction of the missionaries to their flocks. Father Chaumonot writes to his superior:

“Never could I imagine such hardheartedness as there is in a savage. You cannot convert him unless you pay him for it. But he is by no means stupid . . . the difficulty is with the sixth commandment . . . permanency of marriage is out of the question. Every time I go to their cabins I feel as if I were going to be hanged.” (pg. 127)

These people were obviously in a very low condition. They knew what they needed to survive, but the rest of their time was given to vice.

We must remember that the education of the missionaries was of the very highest: liberal education completely informed by the Faith. It was this background enabled them to learn the language, determine what elements of the Indian’s survival culture could be kept as compatible with the faith, how to teach the truths of the faith to these intellectually untrained pagans. What zeal for souls is shown by the sacrifices these men made in such uncongenial surroundings!

Father de Lamberville writes on the difficulties of converting those who cannot reason.

“It must be understood that the Iroquois are not capable of reasoning as do the Chinese and other civilized nations, to whom we [can] prove the truth of faith and the existence of God. The Iroquois are not guided by reasons. The reasons for credibility are not listened to here, and our greatest truths are called falsehoods. As a rule they believe only what they see.” He goes on to say: “Only the fear of some evil or the hope of some good can determine them to embrace our religion. It is nevertheless a great honor for us to be God’s agents and to cause Him to be adored by a small Church in a country where the Devil is so completely the master . . .” (pg 227)

Blessed Kateri Tekawitha

Now, the Jesuits did make converts, but most of them were deathbed (death skin or death stake?) conversions. If there were converts who weren’t dying, they quickly apostatized (at one point there were more apostates than Christians). So, the probation of the catechumens was extended until their education level could be raised and their environment, their culture, could be made to sustain the Faith. Even once the converting Indians had shown their sincerity and good will, they were under enormous pressure . . . and most of them would leave (as Blessed Kateri did) for the Catholic mission of Caughnawaga — where the culture sustained an exemplary Catholic life.

[W]e have an official letter of Bishop St. Valier which says that “the piety I saw there surpassed anything I had imagined, or that had been reported to me.” He gives instances of virtue little less than heroic, and adds: “What I say is not said to please. It is an exact account of the actual state of things. The French are so charmed with what they see that they often go to unite with the Indians in prayer, and to revive their own devotion by the sight of the fervor which they wonder at in a people who were savage such a short time ago.” These Caughnawagas were known among the Indians as “those who do not drink and who pray to God right.”

Eventually Ossernenon (Auriesville, NY) also had a large Catholic population — once it had been watered by the blood of three martyrs. But even these the converts moved to Caughnawaga, as many as a hundred per year. They recognized that their environment had to help them live their faith — so they moved to where they could find it. When the priests were “reproached with causing the depopulation of the villages, they replied that it was not religion, but war and vice with their train of destructive maladies and want that caused the ruin.”

“Become Christians,” they said [to the pagans], “and your tribe will prosper.” (page 289)

That covers the teaching (nutrition) and living (growth) of the Faith, but what about it’s transmission? I wish that I had time for more examples, because there are so many. Hot Ashes, one of the Indians who help Bl. Kateri get to Caughnawaga, refused to be chief of the Oneidas unless they became Christians. He and others worked as catechists. An Indian from Ossernanon went to war against the Illinois only to be on hand to baptize the children and prisoners before they were killed.

[There was also the Indian woman who was so insensed by the ill treatment -- mockery and ridicule -- the Catholic Indians received from the Protestant Dutch, she went into the meeting house in Albany in the midst of a Sunday meeting -- and, in a loud voice said the prayers taught to her by the Black Robes. She was "put out," but she "gloried in her exploit!"]

Almost 200 years later, the way was paved for the success of Father DeSmet by Iroquois from Caughnawaga. Old Ignatius was the chief of a band of Catholic Iroquois who moved west in the early 1800′s. They were the ones to meet the Flatheads, teach them the basics of the Faith, and adjust their culture.

Abundant Harvest — Life of Father De Smet, S.J. – by E. Laveille, S.J. (from FTH20, volume VIII, November 1, 1981 – page 54)

“Beneath his native ruggedness and rare intelligence, the soul of an apostle lay hidden in Old Ignatius. His courage and loyalty acquired for him an influence which he used for the good of the tribe. He often spoke to the Flatheads of the Catholic faith, of its beliefs, its prayers, and its ceremonies. The conclusion of his discourse was always the same appeal: to send for a Black Robe to instruct them and show them the way to heaven.

“The Flatheads listened attentively, and learned from him the principal mysteries of the Faith, the great precepts of Christianity, the Lord’s Prayer, the Sign of the Cross, and other religious practices. Their lives were regulated by this teaching [not the change of culture]; they said morning and night prayers, sanctified Sundays, baptized the dying, and placed a cross over the graves of their dead.”

The Flatheads (and even the surrounding tribes) were so moved to desire instruction that they sent four successive embassies to Saint Louis requesting a missionary — and refused to be taken in by the Protestants who came in the meantime. In fact, when Father DeSmet was given permission to go to the Indians of the Rockies, his guide was Young Ignatius, the son of the Iroquois chief from Caughnawaga.

The grave of Bl. Junipero Serra, the Father of California

It is interesting to contrast the different missions throughout the Americas (I had wanted to touch on the California Missions and the missions among the Eskimos — but in the interests of brevity and courtesy I don’t dare do that now). The stories of these missions all show us the same lesson: that no condition is hopeless, but that a lot of work is necessary to build the Faith on survival education alone, and that a culture sufficient for survival is not sufficient to sustain the Faith.

It has to be elevated first — and this is done by extensive, persevering education by zealous, educated, teachers.

Our next level of education is servile or vocational. We need to go to Italy, fifteenth century Italy, just before the Protestant Revolt. We have here a Catholic society, with years of history and traditions, but a society getting lax, on the downhill slide. Society is literate, with the possibility of higher education, but your average person is educated vocationally, along the lines of the various trades. It is the time of the Renaissance (which had it’s benefits as well as it’s train of errors), but its pagan ideas have filtered down to the girls, especially in the cities, and have resulted in a loss of morals that are breaking up families.

(Read quote on pg. 15-16 – Saint Angela of the Ursulines)

[The] new pagan thought [...] was sweeping over Italy. It was coloring men’s lives with its voluptuousness and blotting out completely the simplicity of the Gospel. Humanism they called it — the study of the Greek and Latin writers whose philosophy of life these moderns would make their own. It was going to men’s heads like old wine too freely taken and was making madmen of them. From the universities it was seeping down to the lower schools, and there seemed neither time nor inclination to temper it with the philosophy of Jesus. And to these lower schools went the young girls, the future mothers of the race, who would have no word of Christian teaching to impart to their little ones. It was the home that was losing. It was in the home that the remedy must be applied.

St. Angela Merici, Foundress of the Ursulines

Saint Angela Merici put her finger on the problem, and gathered around her other young women who would visit the homes of the poor and teach them their Christian doctrine. This project grew into schools for girls where Christian Doctrine and Domestic Arts were taught. This was the beginning of the Ursulines, a teaching order dedicated to the education of girls — the future mothers of society — an order that would grow throughout Europe and eventually spread around the world. (Under the patronage of St. Charles Borromeo the Ursulines played an important part in countering the Protestant Revolution by their life under vows.)

These Sisters also tie into my Iroquois example. In 1639 the Ursulines opened a school in Quebec with both boarding and day students under Venerable Marie of the Incarnation (whose favorite work was the education of Indian children and the religious instruction of their parents). The book I quoted from earlier: Saint Angela of the Ursulines, gives the course of studies when the school opened: religious; history, sacred and profane; arithmetic; French; spelling; writing; grammar; reading; and geography — in addition to music and the womanly arts.

The tomb of Bl. Marie of the Incarnation

Less than a hundred years later, in the 1700′s, the Ursulines were the first order to open schools in what is now the USA (unless you count the Spanish missions). I mentioned Father DeSmet — the Ursulines were one of the orders of Sisters who founded schools for the missions of the Rockies. (They also started the first women’s college in New York in the early 1900′s). Saint Angela’s daughters started with vocational training, and then broadened the girls’ formation with other studies. It is another interesting study to look at the curriculum as it was adjusted to meet the needs of each time and place — but, once again, that is a topic for another time.

What I wish to make clear is that a material society lays a better foundation for the Faith than does the society only bent on survival. The Sisters, of whom the Ursulines are just one example, taught girls of all levels of society and of all races — and, as soon at the basics are covered, expanded the girls’ education to fulfill their potential — raising them from just servile education (as important as that is) to liberal education — and with the Faith front and center and completely integrated. These young ladies became the heart of their own families, now knowing well how to provide a culture in their homes that would foster the Faith of the next generation.

Before I leave vocational education, I want to quickly touch on one other example closer to our time.

We’re still in Italy, but it is now the middle of the nineteenth century. The industrial revolution has made it’s way through Europe. Cities are getting bigger. Material education is definitely the norm and some professions even require a liberal education. But, thanks to freemasonry, the errors of the Enlightenment (that Gary Potter mentioned yesterday), especially anti-clericalism and indifferentism, are rampant. We have a formerly Catholic, established society that is disintegrating in revolution after revolution. And, as in every age, the Holy Ghost raises up saints and apostles to meet the needs of the time. (I think more religious orders were founded in this century than in any other — and many of them seem to be teaching orders.)

Don Bosco (Saint John Bosco)

Before I get too distracted, we will stop in Northern Italy, Turin, and pay a flying visit to Saint John Bosco. Everyone knows that Saint John Bosco took care of boys (did you know that Our Lady herself appeared to him and gave him that mission: of turning the wild beasts into lambs?), but you have to read at least some of the nineteen volumes of the Biographical Memoirs of Saint John Bosco to get an idea of how many other things he did — and what an important man he was of his time.

Well, it is 1851, and at the moment he has three Oratories (the newest one already has five hundred boys). The Oratories are places where the boys meet on Sundays and holy days for religious exercises, catechism classes, and outdoor games, but Don Bosco also has classes during the week in reading, writing, arithmetic, and the metric system. (Literacy is essential in an urban society.) He has a hospice for about forty poor boys (that would grow into the Salesian boarding schools), has laid the foundation of what would be come his order — the Salesians, has just acquired the Pinardi property and field and is fundraising to build a church in honor of Our Lady Help of Christians, the cornerstone of which has been laid. In the midst of this activity, he is also tutoring boys in their classical studies (Eventually he would have full boarding and day schools. There would be a common basis for all the boys in certain subjects, and then they had the choice to follow one of two tracks: either classical studies — to prepare for the priesthood or professional fields, or apprenticeships in various trades.)

But at the moment, all his boys go elsewhere for school and training, coming back to Don Bosco for tutoring as well as spiritual direction and guidance. For those of his boys who were apprentices, learning their trade in the various Turin workshops, he “not only continued to visit them at work to see if there was any moral danger or to check on their progress, but he also took the trouble to enter into formal contracts with their employers and to see to it that they were kept.” In Volume IV, pg 205, there is a contract he wrote up between one of his boys and a glassblower. I don’t have time to go through it now, but not only must the employer teach the boy the craft, employing him only in work related to the trade and within his physical capabilities, but he had to pay the boy on a scale that increased each year, give him Sundays and holy days off, and provide a written monthly report to Don Bosco. The boy promised work hard and attentively, be obedient, docile and respectful.

In this way, Don Bosco not only helped prepare these “at-risk” boys for society, but he integrated the Faith every step of the way . . . making sure that the vocational education didn’t disintegrate into just plain survival mode–no factory slaves here. At the same time, through the boys, Don Bosco was able to reach the tradesmen and the parents, not to mention the statesmen that he had to work with — and in every case he was on the look out for their souls’ welfare.

Immaculate Heart of Mary Brigade in front of the Shrine of the Eight North American Martyrs, Auriesville, NY.

At the end of September every year, the older students have a chance to go on the seventy-two mile Pilgrimage for Restoration. It is a wonderfully painful walking retreat — with amazing spiritual results!

Lining up to get the banners blessed at the beginning of the pilgrimage, Lake George (Lake of the Blessed Sacrament), NY.

Part of Saint Joseph's Brigade

Brother Andre, Chief of Brigadiers

Friday evening Benediction at Blessed Kateri's shrine in Fonda, NY. The celebrant is Canon Andreas Hellmann of the Institute of Christ the King.

Table of contents for Mother Love

1. The Christian Training of Children – Early Cares
2. The Christian Training of Children – New and more Difficult Cares
3. The Christian Training of Children – Admonition to Mother
4. The Christian Training of Children – Combating Concupiscence of the Flesh
5. The Christian Training of Children – Combating Concupiscence of the Eyes
6. The Christian Training of Children – Combating Pride
7. The Christian Training of Children – Rewards and Punishments
8. The Christian Training of Children – The Father’s Role
9. The Christian Training of Children – Prayers
10. The Christian Training of Children – Maxims and Sayings
11. The Christian Training of Children – Co-operation with Pastor and Teacher
12. The Christian Training of Children – Catechetical Instruction
13. The Christian Training of Children – Preparing a Child for Confession
14. The Christian Training of Children – Preparation for Holy Communion
15. The Christian Training of Children – Care of Young Adults
16. Mother Love

Little Book of Instructions for Christian Mothers [continued]
(from Mother Love – A Manual for Christian Mothers – by Rev. Pius Franciscus, O.M.Cap., 1926)

On the Christian Training of Children

A well-earned treat after climbing the 294 stairs of the Bunker Hill Monument

Chapter XI. – A Christian Mother’s Co-operation with Pastor and Teacher

The first aids of a mother in her arduous task of properly rearing her children are derived from the sacramental grace of matrimony. They come to her in the form of supernatural inspirations, interior counsels, admonitions and encouragements. Besides these there are also external aids, among which the father of her little ones holds the first place; then we may add older brothers and sisters and servants of the household. All of these, if good and virtuous, will at least exert a morally educative influence by their good example and by occasional admonitions. In a wider sense the whole environment of the child, made up of playmates, relatives, friends and school companions, collaborate with the mother in the moral and intellectual development of the child. Indeed, even such who speak unfavorably of the qualities of her boy or girl, may be considered as a help in this task, because through their seemingly unkind criticism the mother frequently becomes aware of some fault or faults in the children, which might never be detected by her. But by far the most powerful external aid she derives from the pastor of the parish and from the child’s teacher at school

Happy to be Our Lady's flower girls

Church and school are, indeed, powerful aids; but they cannot do the whole work, they can merely help. The principal work must be done at home, as well in the matter of instruction as particularly in the matter of discipline.

The education of the child should begin in mother’s arms. Mother should even at this early stage direct the child’s attention to the external objects, which may be perceived with the eyes, the ears or the touch, and thus inaugurate the development of the external senses. As the child grows older, she should assist it in expanding its circle of observation, with patient interest listen to its questioning, and be willing to satisfy its awakening curiosity by answering according to the truth and according to the child’s mental capacity. The words the child tries to enunciate, she should strive to have it pronounce as exactly and distinctly as possible, especially such as make up forms of prayer, even though the child does not understand them. The good God understands His little child of grace and the Holy Ghost gives it a modicum of perception, through which the child learns to love the holy words it speaks. Gradually the child will acquire through its associations and environment a knowledge of many visible things and conditions, and also a greater knowledge of God, of Christ, of the Blessed Virgin, of the saints, and of may truths of our Holy Faith. In this way the foundation is laid upon which the school will erect a still greater edifice of learning and knowledge. In this way the child’s interest has been roused and, when the schooldays arrive, the child listens eagerly, attentively and intelligently to the teachings of priest and teacher, and to the joy of its parents, it makes rapid progress in all its schoolwork.

Graduating Class of 2009 (in third grade)

During its years at school the child should be allowed sufficient time to study its lessons and perform its homework. The parents should carefully supervise these home-lessons, and urge the child to apply itself to all its studies. The parents should also examine the child in its memory-work and from time to time inquire from its teacher regarding its attention and deportment in school. According to these reports the parents should either praise or reprimand and even punish the child if milder means produce no improvement. The child should as far as possible never miss school. Indeed, parents should strive to teach the child to love attending the school by encouraging words and occasional rewards for faithful attendance. After the day’s work is done the child should be allowed to enjoy itself in innocent games and recreations. And just as the love for school must be instilled into the child so also the love of church attendance should be encouraged by every possible means; and it should be urged to attend [M]ass not only on school-days but also on free days, but especially on Sundays and feastdays of obligation.

The discipline which is demanded from the child at school, must be an object of attention at home also, and a mother should assist the pastor and teacher in upholding that discipline. Neither pastor nor teacher will accomplish very much, if children have not been taught a high regard for their authority. Hence a mother should inculcate a deep reverence for the priest and teacher in the hearts of her little ones. She should make it plain to them, that just as the parents represent the authority of God and in the name of God must exact reverence, love and obedience, so also the priest and the teacher, being in school and church the substitutes of the parents, are entitled to the same reverence, love and obedience. She should also in her own words and deeds manifest the esteem which she teaches them to have for priest and teacher; she should never tolerate from her children nor in their presence from any one else any kind of slurring remarks or reproaches against the priest or teacher. Just as there must be no discord between father and mother, so also there must be no apparent differences between the parents and the proper authorities in school and church.

Consultation . . .

Whenever differences do occur, they should be amicably settled and should never be argued in the presence of the children. Only by such mutual helpfulness, harmony and cooperation, will the best interests of the child be served and its temporal and eternal welfare by safeguarded.

Parents and children should pray for each other and for the priest and the teacher, just as priest and teacher will pray for them. Indeed, through earnest prayer for relief in each other’s needs mutual affection will be upheld, peace will be maintained and harmony will be promoted. Through prayer for each other we bring upon our efforts the blessings of God, the grace to conquer temptation and the fortitude to combat all obstacles. Briefly we may affirm that united prayers are the source of every spiritual success as well as the condition of the means to obtain the desired results according to the words of our Divine Teacher Himself who said: wherever two or three are united in prayer, they will obtain all they ask for.

A Christian mother must never send her children to a school where the belief in God and His commandments are not taught, where the doctrines of Christ are not accepted, nor Christ Himself is recognized as the Son of God, where Christian principles are made subservient to the principles of the world.

Graduate of 2007 with her grandparents

When you send your children to such a school, you are endangering the salvation of their souls, even though such a school may have otherwise the reputation of solid learning. The worldly advantages of such a neutral school may, indeed, be of great benefit to the future temporal well-being of your children, but the danger threatening their spiritual welfare should be the determining factor, and no truly Christian parents will let merely worldly consideration influence the choice of a school for their children. In the choice of a school mother and father should be determined by the words of Christ: “What doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world, but suffer the loss of his own soul?”

Still circumstances may exist which practically force parents to send their children to a non-religious and neutral school. In this case the parents should investigate the spirit of that school. If it is not antagonistic to positive religion, if there need be no fear for faith or morality, and if the bishop or the pastor also approves the school under the existing conditions, parents may decide to send their children there; but they should also provide in some way for adequate instructions in religion, when they must send their boys and girls to such a school. If the school is downright irreligious or heretical, they should never send the children to it. If parents are at liberty to choose from different good schools, we would earnestly advise them to choose the school where religion and Christian disciple pervades the whole atmosphere, even though the children may not learn so much there as in another.

To be continued . . .