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.

Rose Marie Raphael Doucette

[Rose is the second oldest of eight children. She is a member of the National Society of High School Scholars and a recipient of a partial college scholarship from the Knights of Columbus. She missed graduating "cum laude" by only two points -- her cumulative GPA being 86.5 (3.3). Congratulations, Rose!]

Good Afternoon: Brother Andre, Sr. Marie Therese, Sr. Maria Philomena, Dr. Fahey, Mother, Father, Brothers, Sisters, Family, Friends, and Fellow IHM Students. Thank you all for coming! I am here to tell you about something that is very important to me, and to you as well, I hope.

However, before I tell you of that important something, I would first like to tell you of my plans for the future. After I graduate today, my parents and I will be hosting a party at the Winchester Veteran’s Hall. Everyone is cordially invited to attend and enjoy some of my grandmother’s lasagna and a slice or two of graduation cake. There’s also going to be some great music. I hope you can all come!

Now, I will tell you of my plans for my future. I was accepted by two colleges: Magdalen and Thomas More, and I plan to obtain a bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts. After that, I’m going to try to get into a good Art college, where I can learn how to make children’s movies. I’ve seen a lot of children’s movies to date that are unfit for children’s psychological, religious, and moral growth. I don’t expect to stop the decline of movie morals by myself, but hopefully, if enough Catholic men and women learn the art of animation and other necessary skills [like script-writing and voice acting], we can see the day when better movies and books are circulated throughout American society. This is my most ardent desire, [after the triumph of Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart, of course] of which good entertainment will be an important part.

Graduate of the Class of 2010

Now, I would like to tell you a little bit about myself and my educational quest so far. I’ve lived here in New Hampshire seven – no – ten years: I have been here at IHM from seventh grade to twelfth grade and received honorable mentions only twice. This may seem odd, but even though my grades were, on average really good, I always managed to be deficient enough in one thing or another (like fiddle practice!) that I missed honorable mention. [Rose didn't know it until she got her diploma a few minutes later -- but she made Honor Roll in the fourth quarter of her senior year!]

I have been the winner of the High school division of the Spelling Bee three times. I won first place in the 2009 science fair. I have participated in the Richmond Blueberry Fiddle Festival as both a singer, and a fiddler. In the Blueberry Bake-off, I won three ribbons: one second place ribbon, and two third place ribbons.  But all these things that I have done, I could not have accomplished if it weren’t for the people at Immaculate Heart of Mary School. In fact, if it weren’t for them, there wouldn’t have been any science fairs, spelling bees, or blueberry bake-offs for me.

I mentioned earlier that I had something important to tell you, I am going to tell you about it now. When I moved here, to New Hampshire, ten years ago, I didn’t have any of the things that really matter: neither friends, nor a correct understanding of history; not even a good understanding of my Catholic faith.

Rose with the pumpkin she carved for the Keene Pumpkin Festival

It was a blessing that I wasn’t sent to public school, which my mother frequently reminds me, where I might have grown into quite a rebellious child with an unchecked temper, and a destroyed faith.

As it was, I was already headstrong and rebellious. But underneath my outward bravado, I was actually seeking a peaceful place where my heart and dreams could soar.

My lousy attitude was not my Mother’s fault, she did her best to teach me, but I didn’t want to listen. My mind and heart were so confused that I started shutting everyone out, including her.

You see, when you’re homeschooled, you have no real reasons to leave home; all your classes, learning, and activities take place right in your own house. I could sleep in until ten o’clock, and finish my homework by twelve. I accomplished this by learning to skim the books for only the information I needed to finish my homework. This might seem great to my fellow classmates, but I couldn’t quite retain what I was learning. I simply was not diligent or disciplined enough.

Rose's first science fair

Before long, all of us [except, perhaps, my father who could leave to go to work] — all of us were experiencing a severe case of cabin fever which would not go away. I remember the days when Mother would go shopping, we would all crowd at the door, hoping to be the one chosen to go with her on her trip. Sometimes she took half of us. Other times, she took none of us, needing instead to take some time away from us- and we all understand why!

Days go by so slowly when you don’t have anything truly important to do. I spent my time reading books, visiting exotic and action-packed lands where at least something somewhat important was happening.

An innkeeper (Christmas Pageant)

But I longed for some real friends who I could talk to and who would talk back to me.

I read my entire town library out, but, when the good books were gone, I didn’t have any new places to go, so I turned to the video section of the library.

I watched every movie that my mother would allow, trying to find a way to get to the peaceful land where my heart would be content and joyful. I imagined myself in those places that I found in the movies, speaking to the characters and having many strange and weird adventures, but I knew, even then, that the land of peace was not there.

What a penance - to decorate gingerbread trees during Advent (when you can't nibble)!

Well, one day I heard my parents talking about a small private school that was very close by. It was Catholic, and there was Mass every day. It was a new place to go with many new things to do! I finally pestered my parents into sending me to Immaculate Heart of Mary School, so that I could at least have more people to help me search for my mystical land.

I met many wonderful people here, my friends, my teachers, all the wonderful families; it almost seemed too good to be true. But I was still so very blind, and I was far from recognizing that the entrance-way into my desired mythical land was already opened and waiting. It was waiting for the time when I would find it. But first, I had to learn how to read the signs that would point me towards the entrance, and I had not learned how to recognize them yet.

The Seventh/Eight Grade (Rose and John are in front)

I really can’t tell you how being around good friends can change you, but it did. I found that this small private school was just what I needed. I only ever really got punished once or twice, and then I really deserved it. Of course, for a long time, I couldn’t see much past the new sleep schedule I had to keep: six o’clock sharp every morning.

Rose in the Blueberry Jammers (RBFF 2008)

This was especially difficult for me, because, as you remember, I was used to sleeping in until ten, or even twelve o’clock. The curriculum was difficult for me as well, because I had never juggled so many subjects at one time.

Fridays were a highlight in my week, because two subjects were set aside so that we could learn music and art. These were very enjoyable, fun and easy things to do that didn’t require as much effort on my part. But, gradually I began to realize something important that I had been missing and trying not to think about too much: my religion.

Rose's first Spelling Bee

Being around a group of sisters, I had my first real example of traditional Catholic living. I learned about my faith not only through religion classes where I had many difficult questions answered, but also through the Church’s history and traditions that I had never seen or heard before.

It’s funny how God waits until just the right moment before He lets you realize something wonderful. I began to measure my life to that of the sisters. They were so sure of themselves: so full of laughter and joy and such hope, that I felt ashamed. I tried to sort out why I wasn’t like them, why my life suddenly felt so empty and dull and fruitless, and theirs was full of joy and confidence, and peace.

Laughter is good for the soul

By then, I couldn’t take it anymore; I wanted that peace too, the tranquil, glassy, calm, and silent lake of peace that I saw in them. But I didn’t know how. I read my religion, but I still hadn’t realized its beautiful message yet, the light bulb wasn’t connected to the switch I was toggling, not yet. I knew that heaven was wonderful, but I hadn’t yet realized that it was the only land where there is true peace and happiness: the only land where my searching would be done.

Then, one day at Mass, it happened. I looked at the Host on the altar, and my heart almost broke. I knew that He was there, really and truly, but I didn’t know Him. He was a complete stranger to me.  Yet, my Catholic faith told me that this Stranger

Visiting the Relic Room at St. Benedict Abbey (Still River)

deserves all my love and devotion. How impossible it seemed! Millions of questions and doubts arose like a dark stormy cloud in my mind. Truth seemed to get even further off than ever.

But something inside of me took charge and rallied. I couldn’t see anything through that cloud, but, somehow, I knew that I was not alone. I felt a presence, watching me, waiting for me in expectancy. There was a battle raging in and around me, a battle for my heart and soul, and I was to be the one to decide how it ended. But, how could I? I was too inexperienced and ignorant to know what to do. I sent an ardent plea for help, and was answered almost immediately. The storm ended almost as instantly as it had come, and all my doubts were settled.

After the Auriesville Pilgrimage

Why did God make us? To know, love, and serve Him in this life so that we can be happy with Him in the next life. I had my whole life to get to know Him. What better time to start was there than as soon as possible? That day was the first of many happy days spent here at St. Benedict Center.

Why am I telling you this? Because I want you to know why St. Benedict Center is important to me.  I am telling you about how your school, and by extension, your community has changed me from who I was to who I am. I want you to know how thankful I am, to all of you. This place has effected such a wonderful change in my life, that I almost consider it a second home.

This community has formed not just a school, but a family composed of all the wonderful people who work and support the Catholic faith.

Rose prepares to crown the statue of Our Lady in the chapel (May 2010)

I would like to thank everyone who made it possible for me to come here, and who’ve welcomed me into this family. I’d like to thank, first of all Father DiMascola, and Father Charles Higgins, as well as many of our benefactors who helped to pay for part of my schooling, and gave me another reason to work hard at my studies.

That's some make-up job!

A special thank my good friends: Clare Margand, and John McCann, whom I’ve known since I first came here. You really gave me that companionship I was looking for.

I would like to thank Sister Mary Peter, who was my first teacher, and to whom I apologize for all my antics, but from whom I learned many important things: like diligence. Well, I always meant to put my homework in my backpack, but it got lost somewhere in transit!

Next, I would like to thank Sr. Maria Perpetua, who taught me a lot of church history, and helped me to understand a little more about the way the Catholic Church works in the world. Gratias tibi ago, Soror!

On the USS Cassen Young

Thank you, Sr. Marie Therese, for starting the Sursum Corda Society. I am truly grateful for the books and the medal, and the spiritual help that this small group has given me. I am still trying to remember to return that book I borrowed!

I would like to thank my parents for letting me come to this school and for helping me to remember my homework. Hopefully, you won’t have to worry about the hole in my head for too much longer. And I would like to give a special thanks to my grandma who spent a lot of time and money to come out for my graduation.

On ice!

I would also like to thank Professor Grinstead for teaching me that math is not boring. That’s right, folks! Math is not boring!

I would also like to thank Sr. Maria Philomena, my high school teacher for four years, who was patient with me and my tomfoolery. Remember that one time when Cecilia said a word that supposedly melted wizards and I pretended to actually melt? First, I was dumped out of my seat, and then the desk fell on top of me! Well, at least it got a laugh. I know I couldn’t stop laughing for at least ten minutes after that.

Red & White Roses -- in honor of St. Philomena

{Here Rose presented flowers to Sister Marie Therese and Sister Maria Philomena.}

I would like to thank all my family and friends, and every member of Saint Benedict Center who have not only helped me, but also put up with my oddities and weaknesses. I am honored to graduate from this school!

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

The Six Truths which all must know and believe to gain eternal salvation:

1)    There is but one God, who created, preserves and governs all things.

2)    God is a just Judge. He rewards the good and punishes the wicked.

3)    In God there are three Persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.

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

5)    The soul of man is immortal.

6)     Grace is necessary to salvation.

The five Joyful Mysteries are to be said form the first Sunday in Advent, until the Feast of the Purification; the five Sorrowful Mysteries, from Ash-Wednesday until Easter Sunday; the five Glorious Mysteries, from Easter Sunday to Trinity Sunday. During the remaining part of the year, the Joyful Mysteries are said on Mondays and Thursdays, the Sorrowful Mysteries on Tuesdays and Fridays, and Glorious Mysteries on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays.

The Seven Sacraments were instituted by Jesus Christ, for the salvation of sinners, and the perseverance of the just. They are: Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Holy Orders, and Matrimony.

The Baptismal Vows are fourfold:

I. I believe all that the Holy Catholic Church believes and teaches.

II. I renounce Satan.

III. I renounce all his works.

IV. I renounce all his pomps.

The three principal parts of the Mass are:

I.       The Offertory

II.     The Elevation

III.   The Communion of the Priest

I.   Devout prayer to the Holy Ghost.

II.  A careful examination of conscience.

III. A sincere contrition and a firm resolution.

IV. A sincere confession of, at least, all mortal sins with their number and any

circumstances that materially change their nature.

V. Satisfaction, or the performance of the penance imposed by the Confessor.

O Blessed Jesus, come to me!

O make me burn with love for Thee,

That I may live and die in Thee!

Act of Faith:

My God, I believe in Thee and in all that Thy Church teaches, because Thou hast revealed it, and Thy word is true.

Act of Hope:

My God, I hope in Thee for grace and for glory, because of Thy promises, Thy mercy, and Thy power.

Act of Love:

My God, because Thou art so good, I love Thee with all my heart, and for Thy sake I love my neighbor as myself.

Act of Contrition:

My God, because Thou art so good,

With sorrow I deplore

That I have ever offended Thee.

I’ll never offend Thee more.

The Corporal Works of Mercy

I.       To feed the hungry.

II.     To give drink to the thirsty.

III.   To clothe the naked.

IV.  To ransom the captive.

V.    To harbor the harborless.

VI.  To visit the sick.

VII. To bury the dead.

The Spiritual Works of Mercy

I.       To admonish the sinner.

II.     To instruct the ignorant.

III.   To counsel the doubtful.

IV.  To comfort the sorrowful.

V.    To bear wrongs patiently.

VI.  To forgive all injuries

VII.        To pray for the living and the dead.

The Eight Beatitudes (Matt. V):

I.   Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

II.  Blessed are the meek; for they shall possess the land.

III.  Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted.

IV.  Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice; for they shall be filled.

V.  Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy.

VI. Blessed are the clean of heart; for they shall see God.

VII. Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be called the children of God.

VIII. Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice’ sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Charity, Joy, Peace, Patience, Benignity, Goodness, Long-Suffering, Meekness, Fidelity, Modesty, Continency, Chastity.

I.    To serve God, by keeping His commandments.

II.   To imitate Jesus Christ, by practicing the Christian virtues.

III.  To honor the angels and saints and invoke them.

IV.  To save his soul.

V.    To avoid hell.

VI.  To gain heaven.

VII. To despise the vanity of the world.

VIII. To atone for his sins.

IX.  To overcome evil inclinations.

X.  To perform good works.

XI. To edify his neighbor.

XII. To die, and to stand before the judgment-seat of Christ.

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 X. – Maxims and Sayings Which a Mother Might Teach Her Child.

Pithy, pregnant maxims and sayings are wise thoughts expressed tersely and strikingly. Watchwords we might call them. The Saints were partial to such little sayings. St. Francis is renowned for his “My God and my All,” St. Ignatius for his “All for the greater honor and glory of God,” and there is hardly a saint who did not have a special predilection for some particular expressive saying. It would be wise if all of us would profit by their example and also choose one or the other for our guidance. Every mother should have a storehouse of them, and should on suitable occasions quote them. The evident truth and wisdom of them cannot fail to impress the tender hearts of your little ones. These proverbs will in later life frequently occur to them, and may prove for them a source of strength in temptation as well as in the fulfillment of duty. The most valuable ones are those taken from Sacred Scripture, in particular, from the New Testament and directly from the teachings of Jesus Christ Himself. Next to these are the sayings of the Saints and, finally, proverbial sayings which are in daily vogue among the common people. Mother should be well acquainted with a number of them, and should, when occasion offers, not only quote them but also explain them.

In the following pages some few of each kind are recorded with the intention of making our mothers acquainted with a choice selection for daily use. There are no doubt better ones than those recorded and any mothers knowing such may confidently make frequent use of them; but we would earnestly warn against the use of worldly ones which though fairly expressive, are couched in vulgar or rude terms. Mothers must faithfully avoid silly, sinful and unchristian expressions which children are apt to remember much more quickly.

My Child, gain heaven and you have gained all, lose heaven and you have lost all.

If you do only what you please, can you be considered a servant of God?

We are in the world not to win money, but to win heaven.

Remember, Child, where’er thou art,
God sees into thy very heart.

Where’er you be and whate’er you do,
Remember ever: God sees you.

Do unto others as you would
That others should do unto you.

God will bless with happy days,
With store of precious good,
The child that honors and obeys
Its parents as it should.

My Child, I would rather see you dead at my feet than in mortal sin. (Words of St. Blanche, the mother of St. Louis.)

First the necessary, then the useful, and finally the pleasant.

Lying is a fatal evil,
Liars server their lord, the devil;
And no one every will believe
The child that once did dare deceive.

On Sunday rest and love to pray,
For Sunday is the Lord’s own day.

Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.

Lost innocence and wasted time are never found again.

Little strokes fell great oaks.

Constant dropping wears away the stone.

Never leave till tomorrow what you can do today.

Judge not and you shall not be judged.

Diligence is the mother of good luck.

You will never lose by doing a good turn.

No Cross, no crown.

Many words are not without sin.

Seek first the kingdom of God and His justice, and all things else will be added unto you.

Fools make feasts and wise men eat them.

A small leak will sink a great ship.

It is head for an empty bag to stand upright.

God is merciful to them who love Him.

A fat kitchen makes a lean will.

Believe no wrong if you have not see it; narrate no scandal whether you believe it or not.

Famine means unmentionable pain and sorrow, but no famine of food or drink can compare with the loss of God’s grace.

There is just one fearful thing about death — the moment after.

My life is but the weaving
Between my God and me;
I may not choose the colors—
He worketh steadily.

Full of the weaveth sorrow,
And I, in foolish pride,
Forget — He sees the upper,
And I, the under side.

If now the Cross of Chirst I bear,
I may be sure His Crown to share.

More things are wrought by prayers than this world dreams of.

‘Tis easy to sigh, but ‘tis better to pray.

So nigh is grandeur to our dust,
So near is God to man,
When duty whispers low, “Thou must,”
The creature says, “I can.”

The proof of the pudding is in the eating.

Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do.

Kind words are the music of the world.

There is so much bad in the best of us,
There is so much good in the worst of us,
That is hardly behooves any of us,
To rail at the faults of the rest of us.

Our Philoso-Fur!

The Sisters are taking evening classes in Philosophy, going through Brother Francis’ Philosophia Perrenis lectures on tape with the assistance of a tutor-at-a-distance (using a speaker phone). We are almost to the end of the course on Cosmology, and there is never a lecture that doesn’t touch on something we can use in the classroom. This last week one of my students asked me about the resurrection of the bodies at the general judgment, when everyone who ever lived gets their bodies back. The question was: If someone is cremated (the morality of which was also discussed) or completely decomposed and the exact matter is no longer “free” — how do we get our bodies back? The very day that I answered that question (does anyone know the answer?), I heard Brother’s answer in our evening class. I was very glad to see that I’d answered it correctly! Rhipsime is a regular guest at our class, a regular little philoso-fur (as you can see from her choice of books!).

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

St. Ignatius (kneeling, center) and his first Jesuits

Our third level of education is the human or liberal — the training of man as man (how to think, how to act, and how to express oneself eloquently with both tongue and pen). A liberal education presupposes the earlier levels. If you can’t stay alive, you won’t be able to train your intellect. If people aren’t working together in society and providing for its needs with servile education, liberal education isn’t an option. But, once a society is established, now we can build even higher. And, to paraphrase Brother Francis, having a liberal education will make everything else you do more meaningful. Remember, the more you know, the more you can love, and the more you love, the more you serve.

In honor of Father Leonard Feeney, one of my examples is Saint Ignatius and his Company of Jesus.

Like that of Saint John Bosco, the story of Saint Ignatius’ personal education is fascinating. He was of a noble family and followed a military career. When he was laid up after the cannon ball broke his leg, he was disappointed that his sister-in-law had nothing else for him to read than the lives of Christ and the saints —so he was literate — but this reading educated him in a way that opened his soul to grace and God’s call (he had not been living the faith very well until now). In order to become a priest, he had to get a more formal scholastic education and so he went back to school. You are probably familiar with his humility, a grown man in a class of little boys, and how he worked his way up through school until he received his degree. It was while he was at the university that he met Saint Francis Xavier and gathered the rest of his first followers.

To talk about the founding of the Company, I’m going to use excerpts from The Jesuits and Education — by Father McGucken:

“His original concept [for the Company of Jesus was] of a very select body of men, limited in number . . .not to exceed sixty . . .He had not visualized a vast organization, but rather a small group of men, gifted, trained, university men, of whom St. Francis Xavier was a perfect example; men of executive ability, bound by no petty parochial cares, much less by the daily routine of the classroom, ready to fly at a moment’s notice to any part of the world at the Pope’s command, there to sit in on the councils of kings, to argue with heresiarchs, or to captivate the university centers of Europe by their learning and eloquence” (pg 6) — making sure that the Faith was integrated at highest levels of society . . . something they could only do if they were learned, holy men.

The Society developed differently, however, even during Saint Ignatius’ lifetime.

Soon he had “great numbers clamber[ing] for admission to the new Company . . . [and t]he admission of these younger men, the “scholastics,” their university training not yet complete, presented a new problem to St. Ignatius, the problem of educating them. At first they were “sent in small groups to the universities (the first one to Paris 1540), where “they lived under a superior and followed the ordinary exercises of community life, daily Mass, meditation, and the like. . . .Naturally, these young men with their fixed hours for study and their regular manner of life were a striking contrast to the university youth of the sixteenth century. Young seculars desirous of profiting by the favorable surroundings of the Jesuits asked to be taken into the Jesuit [residence hall] “college”. Occasionally courses were given by Jesuit professors to counteract the none-too-orthodox university teaching, or to supplement a regular course.” (pg 7) (*re-cap*) From here, it was only a short step to founding a separate school, in fact, only seven years after the first scholastics were sent to university of Paris, the first Jesuit college, as a school for externs (seculars) only — with Jesuits acting as professors — was established at Messina.

Eventually, the scope of Jesuit education was broadened to include what we call “secondary” education.

“[A]lmost against [St. Ignatius'] will, he and his followers came to see the power of education. This would be not [just] a cure for heresy, but a preventive of it. To save southern Germany for the Church, there was needed a genius like Peter Canisius; and even his heroic efforts were powerless to remedy all the ravages wrought by heresy and worldly prelates. But once get control of the youth, train them in right principles, impart to them at the same time an education the equal or superior of any in Europe, and the whole world is saved for the Church.” (pg 9)

And if you can’t get control of ALL youth, you start with those you have. The effectiveness of the Jesuits in the Catholic Counter Reformation for two and a half centuries can perhaps best be measured by the hatred which they inspired in the enemies of the Church — hatred that led to their suppression. If you think of the familiar English Jesuits, like Saint Edmund Campion, or if you look at the family of Saint Thomas More, I think you will immediately get a picture of the kind of full Catholic life and culture that is the result of a liberal education.

We are in the home stretch, but to show that an appreciation for liberal education is not limited to modern times . . . I would like to go back to the Middle Ages, what your average American knows as “the Dark Ages.” We move to England, where the King is Alfred the Great. It is the late 800′s, and with his wars of defense over, he is turning his attention to the welfare of his people’s souls. With the aid of the monks (mostly Benedictines), he duplicates in England — much more gently — what Charlemagne did in France during the previous century — what’s called the Carolingian Renaissance. This covers all aspects of life and learning: religion, education, law (trial by jury of 12), language, exploration and expanded trade and travel, agriculture, the useful and mechanical arts. The result of Alfred’s reign was such peace and tranquility that he could (and apparent did) hang gold bracelets some major sign posts and no man would touch them — and that if a traveler dropped a purse in the highway — he would find it untouched the next day! This is particularly impressive when you realize that prior to this, plundering and robbery by the English of their own countryside had become common place. King Alfred’s reign was one of the golden ages of England history.

Let’s just take a quick look at St. Alfred’s educational policies.

First of all, not only did he restore the destroyed monasteries, but at the advice of St. Neot founded a palace school. To run this school, the king invited scholars (monks) from Europe and Wales. King Alfred himself hadn’t learned to read until the age of 12 because of the invasions of the Danes and he always regretted this late start. So, (to paraphrase Father Butler in his Lives of the Saints for October 28, feast of St. Neot)

“Not only did the King see to his own education, spending all his free time conversing with the scholarly monks of the palace school, he also made the series of translations* for the instruction of his clergy and people, most of which survive.” (en.wikipedia.com) He himself set the example for his people of putting religion first: eight hours of the day he devoted to prayer and reading, eight hours to the administration of his kingdom, and the final eight to the needs of his body. King “Alfred stirred up all the gentlemen to bring up their sons to the study of literature, or, if they had no sons, some servants or vassals whom they should make free. He obliged every free man … [with a certain amount of land] to keep their sons at school till they were fifteen years of age. … In order to be qualified [for their rank and responsibilities], their tender hearts must be deeply impressed with the strongest and most generous sentiments of sincere piety and religion, and of true honors; . . . they must acquire the habit of reasoning well and readily, and of forming right judgments and conclusions. Their faculties must be raised and improved by study, … [and then after a foundation in the sciences, directed according to their talents]. King Alfred also exhorted the noblemen to choose among their country vassals … some youths who should appear by their parts [talents] and ardent inclinations to piety, particularly promising to be trained up to the liberal arts. … [T]his prince was solicitous that care should be taken for the education and civilizing of all [his people] by religious instructions and principles. …” [Butler’s Lives of the Saints, John Murphy & Co., 1866 – Volumes 4, October 28, page 227]

*St. Bede’s Church History, St. Gregory’s Pastoral, Orosius’ Roman History, Boetius’ De Consolatione Philosphia, St. Austin’s Soliloquies, Dialogues of St. Gregory, as well as a prose version of the fifty Psalms. A book of the poverbs of St. Alfred has come down to us, as well as the King’s crowning literary work: The Lays of Boethius. He was probably also the inspiration for the Saxon Chronicle and the Saxon Martyrology.

I already mentioned the peace and tranquility that reigned under this amazing, saintly king — and the education of himself and his people played no small role.

***

In our time, with a majority of high school students going on to college — although most of these colleges are providing, not liberal education but more advanced vocational training — higher education certainly is valued.

Brother Francis was asked by Father Feeney: what is the matter with education today? Unbeknownst to Father, Brother had been thinking about this question and so surprised him with a ready answer: An absence of Wisdom. Brother told this story many times, but I remember one time in particular. I can still remember the joy on Brother’s face — the smile with which he told me how he surprised Father!

And absence of Wisdom. Education today needs the Faith. It was this conversation, I believe, that led to Brother Francis’ Tuesday Night Philosophy class at the early Center. Philosophy is the study of wisdom, natural wisdom as a preparation for supernatural wisdom, and so it ties right back into our definition of education: what was it? (repeat definition)

It was to address the problems of modern education that the Center was founded in the first place; and it was at the Center that Father Feeney put his finger on the root of the current Crisis: yet another attempt to deny the necessity of the Faith in our time, by denying the necessity of the Church for salvation – by denying the dogma: Extra ecclesiam nulla salus — Outside the Church there is no salvation.

Just look at that pile of books!

Among Brother Francis’ notes, I found a couple of lists, enumerating the results of denying this dogma. One list has nine points, the other has fourteen — but both lists include this point: one of the results of denying the dogma is the destruction of Catholic Education. If we take that and word it positively, we get: If we are defending the dogma, we should be building Catholic Education.

How can we build Catholic education, the acquiring of Wisdom and the transmitting of culture, into our own lives now that, for most of us, the years of our formal education are past? An excellent means of continuing our education is to be part of the Saint Augustine Institute of Catholic Studies. [There is more information on the table over there.]

The history of man follows a predictable pattern of hills or waves. There is a period of growth, of effort and enthusiasm, of building, until a certain order is reached. This is maintained — or even built upon — for a time, and then people start getting lax. This begins a downhill trend until things get so bad that “somebody does something” and we begin the upward processes again.

We see this in nations, in societies, in families, in individuals. And we see it in the history of education.

Education is necessary for life; Catholic education is necessary for a Catholic life.

****

Before I close, I would like to give you two short exercises in imagination.

First, imagine yourself without any of your senses, except the sense of touch. You cannot see, you cannot hear, you cannot smell, you cannot taste. All you can do is feel. Now I, who have my senses, wish to share with you a gorgeous rose. But you cannot see it and you can not hear me describe it . . . So I take the rose and put it near your hand. What happens? You would probably prick yourself on a thorn and refuse to touch it any more, being content with a smooth pebble or a simple clover blossom that doesn’t hurt. You will not be able to appreciate much about the rose with only the sense of touch.

But suddenly you have your sense of taste! Well, taste doesn’t help much with roses, although you could taste honey made from its nectar, but you probably wouldn’t make any connection between honey and the thing that pricked you since you can’t hear.

Add your sense of smell. You can smell the marvelous scent of the rose … which might make you explore further with your sense of touch to find the velvety petals. But you are still very limited.

The appreciation of roses . . .

Now you can hear. I can tell you about the rose, give you its name, you can hear poetry about it . . . but you still can’t fully appreciate the gorgeous queen of flowers — you don’t have enough knowledge.

So: You now have sight — But only shades of gray — because you are colorblind. You can now see the petals, the beautiful intricacy of God’s creation, but when I tell you that it is red, you have no idea what I’m talking about.

At last, you can see color. The fascinating shades of gradating color in the petals . . .Now you can truly know what I mean when I say: “Look at the beautiful rose!”

What the senses do for the body in acquiring knowledge, education does for the intellect and will: it makes one able to appreciate all of God’s creation, physical and spiritual, as well as God Himself.

***

I have one more exercise for you. I have here on the podium a little white rock. Suppose I give it to you. What is your reaction?

What a nice white rock — just like hundreds of others out in the driveway. Thank you! And you toss it outside.

It is possible that because I gave it to you, you might not toss it away, but slip it into your

Education leads to appreciation.

pocket. If you were Brother Francis, you would make a meditation on it — probably several meditations on it! — all about the stability of its nature, what its nature means for plants, animals, and men — in fact to the whole universe — what part rocks played in the life of Our Lord or the Saints . . . but most of us would just throw it away.

But now I tell you that it comes from the Holy Land — and you know what the Holy Land is. Wow, now this rock takes on some significance. From being ready to toss the rock outside, you might keep it as an almost-relic — or at least an interesting artifact.

And this respect will deepen into reverence when I explain that it came from a spot near Calvary, a spot where we know Our Lord and Our Lady had been.

You are really starting to appreciate this rock now that you are being educated about it.

But, when I tell you that this rock, this exact piece in my hand, is a piece of the Holy Sepulcher, where Our Lord Himself was laid after He was taken off the cross, your reverence turns to . . . veneration.

This rock really is from the Holy Sepulcher. Helene Armeno and her twin sister brought it back with them from their pilgrimage.

Until I educated you about this rock, this relic, you might have been ready to throw it away.

Can you see how education, leading to appreciation, can affect our outlook and decisions?

Remember, the saints became saints because they appreciated the things we have — the things that we don’t appreciate.

***

Seat of Wisdom, pray for us!

Another quote from Brother Francis (which I’ve included on the handout):

“When the condition of the world is as bad as it is, it calls for great sanctity to meet the challenge. Mediocrity is not for our time.”

Sanctity is union with God, union with God is measured by charity, charity is fed by knowledge . . . and knowledge is gained by education.

I have shown you different scenes from the past that demonstrate how Catholic education played a vital role in teaching, living, and spreading the Faith.

How will future historians describe our time — so troubled and muddied?

What difference will Catholic education make for us now?

Our Crusade was founded by educated men and women — with such courage — what will the future have to say about OUR response in this critical time?

Thank you.

*******************************************

Bibliography (partial):

Pioneer Priests of North America, 1642-1710, by the Rev. T. J. Campbell, S.J., Fordham University Press, 1908.

The Jesuits and Education, The Society’s Teaching Principles and Practice, Especially in Secondary Education in the United States, by William, J. McGucken, S.J., Ph.D., The Bruce Publishing Company, 1932. (pp. 6-9)

The Biographical Memoirs of Saint John Bosco, by Giovanni Battista Lemoyne, S.D.B., An American Edition Translated from the Original Italian, Diego Borgatello, S.D.B., Editor-in-chief, Volume IV, 1850-1853, Salesiana Publishers, Inc., 1967. (pp. 204-207)

The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints; by the Rev. Alban Butler, John Murphy & Co., 1866. Volume IV, pp. 222-229.

Saint Angela of the Ursulines, Mother Francis d’Assisi, O.S.U., The Bruce Publishing Company, 1952.

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.