What Christianity owes to the Church : six addresses delivered in the Catholic Hour, produced by the National Council of Catholic Men through the courtesy of the National Broadcasting Company and its associated stations : (on Sundays from September 22 to October 27, 1935)


QvjUw, W. Hiavwl
\jj\j\oJc - --

c \JS±J





Sylvia, IS K/
o oc<<L

Title of the pamphlet - ,fWhat
Civilization owes to the Church"
disagrees with the title on our
cards - ,rWhat Christianity owes
to the Church".

Cards are locally cataloged
and the book was searched as NOS
(not on shelf) so we can't com-
pare.

** 1 S ,s84



a os
CO cn
cok

CD W (!)
P* ct 3

p ct

o p
O ct O
X CD P 3
0 CO 3
ci" "* pi <

hdilKi O
p O H<
n

3 M

CD

ci* •• p - ct*
o 3 P

.

« ^ 0 — CD ci- ^
CD CO o o CD 3

T) Ss P 3kP
P H* 3 35 3
*4 KJ P P H X*
W O CD M
O 4 rt CO ci* P td— CD N H*
CO H* co x
- ^ CO p k O*

3 c4
O ct H 3 | ro >*
O P H* O ct
§ d- O' ct p Mpop p jet 03

P ct P G>
0 3 CD ^ ct <J
ct P CD i
CD P ^ ICO 1—1

33 k CD
Ssa O CO

3 * 0 O ( 0 <5
3 CD ’ct'*
O 0 JO
ct ct * 0
p p.
ci-



What Civilization Owes To

The Church
by

Right Reverend William Quinn, Protonotary Apostolic of His
Holiness, National Director of the Society

for the Propagation of the Faith.

Six adddresses delivered in the Catholic Hour, produced

by the National Council of Catholic Men through the
courtesy of the National Broadcasting Company

and its associated stations.

(On Sundays from September 22 to October 27, 1935)

I. The Church and Civilization.

II. Her Social Service Through the Ages.

III. Her Schools and Their Influence.

IV. A Phase of Catholic Action.
V. Heroes of Christian Charity.

VI. Her Missionary Program.

National Council of Catholic Men,
Producer of the Catholic Hour,

1312 Massachusetts avenue,.

Washington, D. C.

Printed and distributed by Our Sunday Visitor
Huntington, Indiana



Imprimatur:

•J? JOHN FRANCIS NOLL, D. D.,
Bishop of Fort Wayne

DeacJdled



DEDICATION

To the Diocesan Directors of the Society for the Propaga-
tion of the Faith in the United States, with whom

it is an honor to serve in this holy cause,

this booklet is dedicated.





THE CHURCH AND CIVILIZATION
Address delivered on September 22, 1935

The Catholic Church has exercised an unparallel-
ed influence in the history of the world and in the
lives of nations. Historical truth compels the ack-

nowledgment that she has been the most constant
and bountiful protector that Divine Providence has

ever bestowed upon the human race. Set up in the
world for the benefit of man, she is not of human, but
of divine origin. No human agency could bring her
into being, none could have preserved her during

1900 years. No merely human power could have
achieved what she has accomplished, no human
power can destroy her.

HER CHARTER
At her very foundation Our Divine Savior gave

to her these very definite charges: the diffusion

among all nations of the teaching of Christianity ;
the preservation of the treasure of the Faith; the

maintaining in honor before men the beauty of
Christian revelation

;
the inclining of men’s wills to

the observance of a lofty moral law. These were the
commissions given to the Church in the beginning:

a stupendous program, guaranteed against failure

by Him who gave it. To bring men’s minds into
conformity with God’s mind by right thinking, and
men’s hands into conformity with God’s law by right
acting—which alone is supernatural religion—this
was the work of the Church.

The downfall of the Roman Empire in the sixth
century was a most momentous happening for so-
ciety. Rome was the mistress of the world. She
wTas rich with the plunder of the world which she



6 WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH

had conquered. Wealth and might and luxury, and
even vice, were her gods, and she worshipped them
all. Idleness, self-indulgence, amusement, were all
her citizens craved. People were drunk with the
blood of their gladiators and of the martyrs for the
Christian faith. She had given to the world a cer-
tain civilization; she had framed many wonderful
laws and introduced a degree of culture. But she
was to fall—old Rome was to pass away and a new
Rome to come into being.

OLD ROME IS DESTROYED
The Goths, the Huns, the Vandals, the Lombards

broke down the material power of the Roman Em-
pire forever. They overran Italy, spreading fire
and destruction. Thirsting for the destruction of
the Imperial City, the all-devouring hordes of Atilla,

“The Scourge of God”, are brought to a stand out-
side its very gates. The uplifted hand of Leo the
Great turns back the Barbarians and Rome is
saved. But for 200 years after that the successors of
Peter looked out upon a desolated Europe and a
dying civilization. The human race had been thrown
back 2,000 years. Violence, lawlessness, ignorance,

brutality, were the dominating and all-mastering

powers. Barbarism did its utmost to drown in a sea
of hideousness all that makes life tolerable.

THE REVENGE OF THE CHURCH
The Catholic Church took a noble revenge. For

five hundred years afterward, another tide swept

over Europe, a bloodless and stainless conquest, which

washed away in the waters of Christian baptism the
defilements of those fierce destroyers of ancient

Rome. In the early part of the fifth century, Ire-



WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH 7

land was converted by the missionary, St. Patrick,
sent by Pope Celestine. Towards the end of the
same century the Franks were converted with their
King, Clovis. In the sixth century St. Augustine

and his Benedictine missionaries went to the Anglo-
Saxons from St. Gregory. As the centuries passed
on, other missionaries sent by the Holy Father

preached the Faith to all the other nations of

Europe. The Northmen conquered the Roman
Eagle, but the Cross of Christ borne by missionaries

from the Eternal City, conquered the Northmen. At
the very time when religious revolt was raging in
Europe, Francis Xavier and his missionaries were

convertng millions to the Faith in India, Japan, and

the Far East.

WHAT IS CIVILIZATION?
It is not easy to define civilization. It must in-

clude an organized civil code making for the secur-
ity of life and property and for the mutual relation-
ship of trust and confidence between man and man,
between nation and nation. Civilization is not

measured by advance in mechanical appliances, or
even in elegance of Art or refinement of manners.
Steam-engines, motor-cars, electric lighting, tele-

phones, are not guarantees of its advance. As the
missionaries went forth with authority to teach the
nations the Gospel of Christ, they bore with them
a system of moral teaching based on the eternal
principles of justice, honesty, and truth. With these
and the teaching of Faith they were to restore the
world. Faith and morals were their teaching, and
no complete civilization is conceivable without them

;

by these alone the discipline of the mind and the
discipline of the will are compassed, and this dis-



8 WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH

^ipline brings about the moral elevation of a people

;

this is a vital point of social well-being, for social
well-being is civilization in act. This was the aim
of the missionaries. No one with even a superficial
knowledge of history can doubt that the mission-
aries of the Church have invariably striven for the
moral betterment of the people.

Her missionaries gave to the mind of Europe an
energizing impulse by means of which it was carried
forward to the loftiest heights of civilization which
it has ever reached. Tyranny is incompatible with
civilization, whose first law is freedom. The mis-
sionaries have contributed one of the greatest bene-

fits to the human race by their constant defense of
the people against tyranny and by theirchampionship

of the poor and oppressed. The Church has always
stood for the liberties of men. Ancient Rome looked
upon the laboring classes as being of an inferiorcaste.
The Church insisted on the essential equality of all
men before God. In her work for civilization the
Church organized these great bodies of men and
women, the Religious Orders, which for centuries,
under her guidance, have labored unceasingly for

the advancement of their fellowmen. These Orders

of the Church attracted the greatest lights of learn-
ing into the cloisters, whence they went forth to
Christianize and so to civilize the heathen and the

savage.

WHAT NON-CATHOLICS HAVE SAID
Some may say that I am giving only the Catholic

view-point. I want you to bear with me when I
quote what eminent non-Catholic writers have said
on this point. By design I should like to quote au-
thorities other than Catholic as testifying to the



WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH 9

debt which the world owes to the Catholic mission-
ary. Listen to the words of Lord Macaulay, written
nearly a century ago:

“The Catholic Church is still sending forth to the
farthest ends of the world missionaries as zealous as
those who landed in Kent with Augustine, and still con-
fronting hostile kings with the same spirit with which
she confronted Attila. The number of her children is
greater than in any former age. Her acquisitions in
the new World more than compensate for what she
lost in the old. Her spiritual ascendancy extends over
the vast countries which lie between the plains of the
Missouri and Cape Horn,—countries which a century
hence many not improbably contain a population as
large as that which now inhabits Europe.”

Hear what the historian, Lecky, says

:

“When Europe had sunk in the most extreme moral,
intellectual and political degradation, a constant stream
of missionaries poured forth from the monasteries,
who spread the knowledge of the cross and the seeds of a
future civilization through every land from Lombardy
to Sweden, and in addition to their noble devotion, carried
into their missionary efforts the most masterly judg-
ment.”

In his book, The New Freedom, former Presi-
dent Woodrow Wilson, says:

“Society from the bottom has always interested me
profoundly. The only reason why government did not
suffer dry rot in the Middle Ages, was that most of the
men who were efficient instruments of government were
drawn from the Church—from that great religious body
which was the only Church, that body which we now
distinguish from other religious bodies, as the Catholic
Church. The Catholic Church was then, as it is now, a
great democracy. There was no peasant so humble that
he might not become a priest, and no priest so obscure
that he might not become Pope of Christiendom, and
every chancellery in Europe, every court in Europe, was
ruled by the learned, trained, and accomplished men

—

the priesthood of the great and dominant Church.
What kept government alive in the Middle Ages was
this constant rise of the sap from the bottom, from the
rank and file of the great body of the people through
the open channels of the missionary priesthood.”



10 WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH

I quote an eminent non-Catholic clergyman
Dean Farrar

:

“What was it which saved the principles of law and or-
der and civilization? What rescued the wreck of ancient
literature from the universal conflagration? What re-
strained, what converted the inrushing Teutonic races?
What kept alive the dying embers of science? What
fanned into a flame the white ashes of art? What re-
claimed waste lands, cleared forests, drained marshes,
protected miserable populations, encouraged free labor,
equalized widely separated ranks? What was the sole
witness for the cause of charity, the sole rampart
against intolerable oppression?. . .What weak and
unarmed power alone retained the strength and the
determination to dash down the mailed hand of the
baron when it was uplifted against his serf, to pro-
claim a truce of God between warring violences, and to
make insolent wickedness tremble by asserting the in-
herent supremacy of goodness over transgressions, of
knowledge over ignorance, or of right over brute force?
You will say the Church; you will say Christianity. Yes,
but for many a long century the very bulwarks and
ramparts of the Church were the monasteries, and the
one invincible force of the Church lay in the self-sacrifice,
the holiness, the courage of the monks and of the mis-
sionaries sent forth from the monasteries.”

AMERICA’S DEBT TO THE MISSIONARIES
I feel it is superfluous for me to speak to an

American audience on what our civilization owes to
the missionaries. All of us Americans, whether we
be Jewish, Protestant, or Catholic, appreciate what
the Catholic missionary has meant to our own coun-
try. The brightest chapters in the early history of
these United States, were written by holy pioneer

priests. I need only mention some of their names:
Marquette and Jogues, Las Casas of Florida, and

Serra of the Western Coast, De Smet of the Rocky
Mountain area, the Prince-priest Gallitzin of
Pennsylvania, Mazzuchelli and Loras of the plains,

Flaget of Kentucky. Their very names are still
a benediction. More enduring than bronze the monu-
ments of their achievements. These were only some



WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH 11

of the multitude of missionaries who came to our
shores with one ambitious objective; to found here a

high civilization based upon Christ’s teachings.

Although Americans know and appreciate what
the missionaries of the Church have meant in the
history of our own land, we may be tempted to be-
lieve that her civilizing influence is of past time

merely, a page of glorious history, indeed, but with-

out meaning to the world of the twentieth century.
Never has the Church been more wide-spread

than she is today. Never before in her history have

her missionary ranks been more complete and far-
flung and truly Catholic—made up of priests and
nuns of all nations and of all colors. Had you ad-
ventured with Admiral Byrd to the South Pole, or
crossed the frozen North in a dirigible with Nobile
and Ellsworth and Amundsen, it is almost a cer-
tainty that the nearest white men or women to you
would have been Catholic priests or nuns laboring
in bleak regions for the betterment of the poor or

the relief of the afflicted.

Thank God, the sublime task of the Catholic
Church is still being gloriously carried on. Her
greatest triumph is in inspiring chosen men and
women to make their lives Christ-like—to find happi-
ness for themselves, and to bring that happiness to
countless others. In the midst of poverty and tragic
disease the missionary gives to his poor people Faith

and Hope. To unlettered people living in a world
of doubt and of conflicting creeds the Catholic mis-
sionary brings “one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism.”
In an atmosphere of selfishness and of materialism
the missionary teaches—yes, and practises—the
charity of Christ.



12 WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH

HER SOCIAL SERVICE THROUGH THE
AGES

Address delivered on September 29, 1935

When. Our Divine Lord walked upon the earth
He occupied Himself with two things: teaching
men, and helping the unfortunate. He “went about
doing good”, never neglecting the great duty of
teaching. He devoted Himself to the care of suf-
fering humanity.

These two phases of Our Lord’s life are contim
uously exemplified in the history of the Church.

As we saw last Sunday, she has always occupied
herself, and must always continue to occupy her-
self in teaching all nations and doctrines of Christ.
She is the divinely commissioned teacher of men.

CHURCH’S CARE FOR HELPLESS
But from her very foundation she has been

concerned too with helping the unfortunate. From
the earliest centuries the homes of her Bishops
were opened to the poor, to travelers, and to the
sick. In their consecration ceremonies her Bishops

are required to make a solemn promise to care for
the poor. As time went on the houses of her Bish-
ops really became hospitals; guest houses and
places for the sick who had nowhere to lay their
heads. Orders of men and women were established
whose members might devote themselves to the
care of the poor and the ailing. The instincts of
the feminine heart were given an objective. And
women’s affections were enlisted to secure the
best possible care for the unfortunate.

In answer to the doctor of the law who tempted
Him in asking “Master, which is the greatest com-



WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH 13

mandment of the law”, Jesus said: “Thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart”

—

this is the greatest and the first commandment,
and the second is like to this : “Thou shalt love thy
neighbor as thyself.” “On these two command-
ments dependeth the whole law and the prophets.”
Christianity is folunded upon the Fatherhood of God
and the brotherhood of men. The Church of Christ
must always be the teacher and defender of His
doctrines

; she must likewise be the minister of His
charity to men.

Some deny Her divinity—they may question
her sanctity and her historical antiquity—they may
laugh at her devotional practices—but if they are
fairminded and read history truly, they will be
forced to admit and to admire the Christ-like char-
ity of her consecrated men and women in her in-
numerable charitable institutions of mercy which
are to be found throughout the world.

THE GOOD SAMARITAN OF HISTORY

The Catholic Church has indeed been the Good
Samaritan of history. She binds up the wounds of
poverty and misfortune, of suffering and affliction,
wherever she may find them. Wherever in the
world you may go you will find her hospitals and
asylums and child-caring institutions. As soon as
the priest has set himself down in a new territory,
whether it be in America in the sixteenth or seven-
teenth century, or in Africa or Asia today, his very
first task is to establish a school where Christ’s
doctrine will be taught and then out of his meager
resources to found some sort of a hospital for the
care of the unfortunate. He brings in Sisters to
dedicate their lives to the poor. From their con-



14 WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH

vents every morning they go out—some perhaps
afoot in the teeming city streets; others perhaps
on bicycle into the country districts; perhaps by
canoe portaging through the jungle to fulfill
works of mercy. Both the worldly great and the
lowly are struck by the devotion of our heroic
priests and nuns. Said a Maharajah not long ago
to a group of them : “What a tremendous thing the
Catholic Church must be! We Hindus would never
stoop to these miserable wretches, yet you frail
women come from far over seas to give your lives
for them.”

In our time there is no phrase more ready to the
lips than Social Service—as if it were a new thing.
Yet the Catholic Church has practised the highest
form of social service throughout her existence

—

the world can never repay the debt which it owes
to her for that. She laid the foundation of organ-
ized charity, of philanthropy, of social service.

She was the pioneer of all the systems of charit-
able organizations such as we have today.
She does not look upon good works for our neigh-
bor as merely an economic solution for the world’s

ills, but rather she bases all her good works on sup-
ernatural devotion. To her, Charity is the queen
of all virtues. She teaches, yes and practices, the
exhortation of St. Paul

—“And now there remain
faith, hope, and charity, these three : but the great-
est of these is charity.” Before the coming of
Christ and the establishment of His Church, the
world was pagan—the weak, the poor, the ignorant
had no rights, for there was no mercy on the part
of the strong and no charity on the part of the
rich. Selfishness was the accepted creed. The
world belonged only to the strong, the human race



WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH 15

lived only for the mighty. Less kindness was
shown to the poor than to the animal—for indeed
the anmal was of more value to its owner. Women
were only the playthings of men. There were no

institutions of mercy, for charity was as yet un-
known to men. Like the Levite in the parable of the
Good Samaritan, paganism passed by the stricken
man in the roadside, the suffering poor and the
outcasts of society. Into this atmosphere came
Christ and His Church. What a tremendous
change took place in the world : Hard-hearted pa-

gans were converted and transformed into tender-
hearted Christians. In a short time hospitals, or-

phanages, institutions for the help of the poor and
the needy, sprung up everywhere where the early
ministers of Christ’s religion preached. The Church
had aroused men to a sense of their duties in the
obligation of Christ’s charity: “Love thy neighbor
as thyself.”

CARE FOR THE SICK

As early as the fourth century Saint Basil
founded in his Diocese of Cappadocia what would
even today be considered the ideal institution of
Social Service. It was so extensive that it came to
be called “The new city”. It had buildings for
different classes of patients, a house for infants,
a home for orphans, a refuge for the old, and an
isolated section for contagious diseases. It had
homes for physicians and nurses, and yes, even
work-shops and industrial schools for the crippled
and the blind, teaching them to earn a livelihood
despite their apparent handicaps. More than fif-
teen hundred years ago the methods of present-
day social work and physical rehabilitation were



16 WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH

used by the Catholic Church. She preached, and
practised the command of her Founder : “Love thy
neighbor as thyself.”

In the late fourth century Fabiola, whose beau-
tiful shrine in Rome is built above her patricianhome,
organized social service for the ailing poor. There
were regular visitations of the sick outside the
hospital. So extensive was her organization of
Christian charity and so impressed was the Roman
populace by it that when she died the entire Im-
perial City tried to do her honor. The good ex-
ample of Fabiola soon spread and similar hospi-
tals were established co-incident with the arrival
of the missionaries and the establishment of Chris-
tianity.

During the Crusades there came into being
such charitable organizations as the Knights Hos-

pitalers, also the Knights Templars and the nurs-
ing women of Saint Mary of Jerusalem. The mem-
bers of these organizations vowed their service to
the care of the sick and established hospitals
wherever they went. The world can never forget
the debt it owes to those noble sons and daughters

of the Church who embodied in their own lives and
works the command, “Love thy neighbor as thy-
self”; to Catherine of Sienna, who during the
plague known as the “Black Death” was an ex-
ample of courage to all ; to the militant Saint Ca-
millus who founded the Red Cross to aid the
wounded in time of war; to the little poor man,
Francis of Assisi, whose spiritual sons and daugh-
ters in brown or grey or black robe still carry on
everywhere his loving work for the poor; to Vin-
cent de Paul whose white-bonneted spiritual

daughters are to be found everywhere, in the leper



WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH 17

homes of the Orient, in far-off Madagascar, in the
mountain recesses of Mongolia.

HER SOCIAL SERVICE IN AMERICA
Needless to speak to Americans of the self-

sacrifice of our priests and Sisters. Let the walls
of old Blockley hospital in Philadelphia tell of the

hideous cholera epidemic of 1832 when the Direc-
tors of that great hospital called upon the Sisters
of Charity to take charge; let the Welfare Island
of New York City tell of the dread small pox epi-
demic of 1876, when the same sisters were begged
to take care of the stricken hundreds of both Dir-
ectors and patients.

Hear what the immortal Abraham Lincoln says
of our Sisters during the Civil War

:

“Of all the forms of charity and benevolence seen
in the crowded wards of the hospitals, those of some
Catholic Sisters were among the most efficient. I never
knew whence they came or what was the name of their
Order. More lovely than anything I have ever seen in
art, so long devoted to illustrations of love, mercy and
charity, are the pictures that remain of those modest
Sisters going on their errands of mercy among the
suffering and the dying. Gentle and womanly, yet with
the courage of soldiers, leading a forlorn hope, to
sustain them in contact with such horrors. As they
went from cot to cot, distributing the medicines pre-
scribed, or administering the cooling, strengthening
draughts as directed, they were veritable angels of
mercy. Their words were suited to every sufferer. One
they incited and encouraged, another they calmed and
soothed. With every soldier they conversed about his
home, his wife, his children, all the loved ones he was
soon to see again if he was obedient and patient. How
many times have I seen them exorcise pain by the force
of words: How often has the hot forehead of the soldier
grown cool as one of the Sisters bathed it: How often
has he been refreshed, encouraged and assisted along
the road to convalescence, when he would otherwise have
fallen by the way, by the home memories with which
these unpaid nurses filled his heart!

”

What merely human institution can inspire
workers capable in any emergency of forgetting



18 WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH

self and of giving even their very lives for the
“least of Christ’s brethren”?

In our Capital city of Washington there is a
monument erected to the memory of all the var-
ious orders of Sisters of the Catholic Church who
gave their services as nurses on the battlefields or
in hospitals in all the wars in which our country
has been engaged. In war as in peace they labor
in Christ-like tasks.

I conclude as I began. You may doubt the doc-
trines of the Catholic Church; you may scorn her
devotional practices; but you can not but glow
with admiration at her incomparable record of
social service rendered to humanity. And this work
is not of past time merely ; it is still going on. The
Church is still the Good Samaritan of Christ’s
charity and mercy. Look out over the wide hori-
zons of the world. Her priests and nuns, mission-
aries of Christ’s charity in lonely places, are the

silent unthanked laborers, whose days know no
rest, whose nights are often spent at the racking
bedside of suffering, who build not only with brick
or stone, but firmly and enduringly in the souls

and hearts of men of all colors.
In the Catholic missionary, the love of Christ

goes on its way triumphant. In a world that is
cynical about purity, here purity is of the essence.

The world which prates about altruism but prac-

tices overt selfishness, can not help but see in the

missionary soul a devotion to others and a spirit of

sacrifice that burns out life itself and blazes in the

flaming torch of an heroic death. Nothing but

Divinity could produce such divine charity; no tree

but that planted by Christ could bear such heaven-

ly fruit.



WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH 19

HER SCHOOLS AND THEIR INFLUENCE
Address delivered on October 6, 1935.

We have seen that Our Lord was primarily the
Teacher. His title, the Divine Master, was not an
empty one. His whole public Life was spent in
teaching the eternal doctrines and basic principles
of a new philosophy of life. The remote country
roadside or the teeming busy street; the clamor-
ous markets or the quiet temple—these were His
daily classrooms. At times a hillside, or a small
skiff put off from the shore, served as a temporary
pulpit from which the Son of God spoke eternal
truths for the moral guidance of mankind.

OUR LORD ALWAYS A TEACHER
Wherever this Divine Teacher went He em-

phasized His teaching office. This was true of Him
even when as a boy of twelve He stood in the
temple among the elders, and they “were aston-
ished at his wisdom and his answers.” And when
in the prime of His Life in that very same temple
He proclaimed His new Gospel to the doctors of
the law, they cried out in amazement: “How doth
this man know letters, having never learned?”
The man in the street too realized that here was
a divine Teacher who spoke to him, for as the
sacred Scripture reminds us, “they were astonish-
ed at his doctrines, for he was teaching them as
one having power and not as the scribes.” The
multitudes saw in this new teacher one greater
than Moses—one who had not to study or search
for the truth in musty tomes, but who was Truth
itself; one who could merely dip into the treasure
of His Own Mind in order, as He Himself said,



20 WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH

to bring forth new things and old. At last an
infallible teacher had come to men who could
teach them truths embracing time and eternity;
who could solve for them the perpetually haras-
sing riddles of life. Socrates and Plato and Aris-
totle thought clearly and taught eloquently. But
to them life was still a riddle and the future life
a speculation. Surely Our Lord surpassed all
other teachers who had ever propounded systems
of life, for unlike the others, He put His teachings
into practice; they were the direct expressions of
His Human Life and of His Divine Personality.

PAGANISM MEETS ITS CONQUEROR

At the termination of His public ministry, even
when He hung upon the Cross on Calvary, human
society had begun to undergo a moral transforma-
tion. The death knell of paganism had been sound-
ed; the good seed had been sown; the foundation
of the great Christian Church had been laid : “For
other foundation no one can lay but that which is
laid, which is Christ Jesus.” Christ is indeed the
sole foundation, the living energizing cornerstone

of this mighty structure the world calls the Cath-
olic Church.

But His principles and His teachings were not

to die with Him. He Himself guaranteed that they
would continue, for He says : “Heaven and earth
shall pass away but my word shall not pass away.”
To make certain their continuance He founded a
teaching church and invested it with divine author-

ity to teach in His Name: “He that heareth you,
heareth me”; “Going therefore teach ye all nations

. . . teaching them to observe all things whatso-
ever I have commanded you.”



WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH 21

CHURCH ALWAYS A TEACHER
Since her very foundation she has been teaching

with authority and defending without compromise
His doctrines. She has been and ever will be the
moral teacher of mankind. Like Christ her Found-
er, her classroom is the universe, every human soul
born into this world is her pupil. She is not of
yesterday or to-day; she goes back to that hour
when paganism met Christianity in the person of
Christ. No one can read the history of mankind
without reading about the Life and Teachings of
Christ; and no one can understand history since
His time without reading the history of the Cath-

olic Church. We saw last Sunday that in the
Church paganism found its master. With the ad-
vance of the missionaries bearing the teachings

of the Church Christianity began to conquer the
minds and hearts of men. The sword of cruel pa-
ganism was displaced by the cross of mercy.
Moral degradation, injustice, lack of human sym-
pathy, gross materialism, social corruption, were
uprooted by the missionary teachers of the Church
of Christ.

EDUCATION UNDER PAGANISM
In the pagan world education always was and

still is the exclusive privilege of the higher classes.

It was the Church which put education within the
reach of the common people. The school opened
to all classes throve on Christian soil. The mighty*
nations of Europe sat at the feet of her mission-
aries and owe their culture to her. Under the tute-
lage of the Church they achieved greatness. The
Catholic Church is the mother of the Christian
school.



22 WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH

Throughout the centuries the missionaries of
the Church have drawn the mission peoples to
school, imparting to them both secular and relig-
ious knowledge. Wherever she carried on her
spiritual ministry she also was educator.

THE SCHOOL THE HEART OF ALL CATHOLIC
ACTIVITY

It is generally accepted that the first profes-

sional elementary school teachers in our country
were the Urusline nuns, who came from France
at the request of Governor Bienville in 1727 and
opened St. Angela’s Free School in New Orleans.
That school is going today, the oldest free school
in existence in the United States.

At the time of our American Revolution no less
than seventy Catholic schools had been opened
within the present confines of the United States.

What was true in olden times, and in our own
land, is true today. The school follows the cross
of the missionary. I am sure that my radio audi-
ence would be surprised to know the far reaching
extent and majestic number of her schools and
teachers all over the world. Within every mission

compound whether in Africa, Asia, or under the
Southern Cross, the school always stands beside the

Church. Church and school, religious education
and secular instruction, development of mind and
heart and body—such is the program of Catholic
school training whether in the United States or in

the remotest missionary field. A mission without
a school is a mission without a future. Here the

innocent pliable souls and hearts of children are

fashioned to form a Christian generation. Here

the Christian faith becomes rooted and confirmed

;



/

WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH 23

the chapel or church is the soul, the school is the

heart of all missionary activity.

Not only that, but it is the mighty lever for
the elevation of the people and the fulfillment of
the social task which the mission must perform.
The mission school trains its youthful scholars in
knowledge that will equip them for life. The school
turns them into useful members of human society
making them contributors toward the social well-
being of the community in which they must live.
The school bridges the sharp contrasts which
among pagans separate the various castes of so-
ciety. The school emphasizes the nobility of labor.
It fosters pure womanhood and puts the two sexes
on an equal footing by the fact that it educates
girls as well as boys. If you look at the missionary
map of the Catholic Church—I do not refer to
Europe or the two Americas—you will find 42,600
schools. Asia alone has nearly 26,000. Many of
these are primary schools, nearly 2,000 are high

schools or colleges, 500 are industrial or manual
training schools. Under the direction of her self-
sacrificing brothers and sisters more than 2,000,000
are receiving a Christian training—a yeast of tre-
mendous potentiality for the future of the non-
Christian peoples. All the peoples of the earth

are sensing in our day a longing for education.
Moscow is ready to give it to them in the form of
atheistic, communistic doctrines which have for
their end destruction. The Catholic Church is
ready to give it to them and is indeed giving them
a training which means not destruction but “the
truth which makes man free”. Her culture and
her civilization are penetrating into the remotest

parts of the earth.



24 WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH

The vast number of schools conducted in her
missions shows the Catholic Church as mother
and educator of the people. The well-being of the
masses is her one concern. Wherever she has liber-
ty of action and the necessary means she opens
wide the doors of her schools to the children of the
masses without regard to class or social standing.
In the clear evidence of history, how stupid the
contentions of the Mexican politicians who assert
that the Church has been hostile to education.
Fair-minded American people are not misled by
the wild vagaries of Mexican revolutionary leaders
or of Soviet-paid propagandists.

A great American once said that his conception
of a perfect university was Mark Hopkins seated
on one end of a log and a student of ambitious
mind on the other. The theory of the Catholic
school is just that—a self-sacrificing teacher with
no objective except the inculcation of sound prin-

ciples into the mind of the pupil. The material
school building means little without the teacher;
the teacher means nothing or produces nothing
without sound principles. Unhappy the people
whose teachers follow the fanciful winds of every

doctrine and theory; unhappy the nation whose
teachers are impregnated with Communism or ma-
terialism ! What hope for the youth of the future
if the teacher’s mind be corrupted; “if the blind
lead the blind shall they not both fall into the pit?”

All honor to the nuns, priests, and brothers who
are engaged in teaching the youth, even in pagan

lands, the sound principles upon which civilization

itself rests!

The world in which we live is a world of
lightning changes. The so-called primitive races



WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH 25

are sensing their power. The “rising tide of color”
is no fiction. In the words of an outstanding
Hindu, these people are saying to the white race:
“Have you nothing better to offer us than machine
guns and poison gases? Has Western civilization
no other gifts for us, save the electric dynamo,
the motor car, the locomotive? We can get along
without them !”

Moscow has found everywhere fertile field for
the sowing of restless anarchy—not alone in the
minds of the poor and downtrodden, but even in
those of the so-called educated classes—educated
in arts and sciences but without a foundation of
clearly defined principles. If that seed comes to
harvest, unhappy the results for an already un-
happy world.

What will prevent a harvest so calamitous as
will scathe and scorch future generations? Not
anything material, nor any product of man’s
genius. It needs something more, something the

Church must give: the planting of Christ’s doc-
trines in youthful hearts of red and white, yellow
and brown races. The most inspiring thing in the
world today is that vanguard of holy men and
women keeping vigil, like faithful vedettes, over
their treasure: the children of primitive as well

as of advanced races. These are the Church’s

jewels! Gibraltar will crumble, Verdun be but a
memory, but the fortress of Christ’s faith guarded

by these faithful sentinels will endure always!



26 WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH

A PHASE OF CATHOLIC ACTION
Address delivered on October 13, 1935

We hear much and read even more of Catholic
Action: as if it were something new. The truth is
that Catholic Action has been in effect and operation

since the very institution of Christ’s Church—since
the very first day that the Apostles went forth with
the divine mandate : “Teach all nations”. The his-
torical truth of this statement becomes very evident

when we understand the full significance and mean-
ing of this much-used term.

Catholic Action may be briefly defined as a
“participation of the laity in the apostolate of the

priesthood”. In its broader sense Catholic Action

means the part taken by Catholics in promoting the
Kingdom of Christ on earth. It refers to everything
that Catholics can or may do to advance the interests
of God and the Church; or to promote the spread-
ing of the faith, or the salvation of souls.

In view of this definition, Catholic Action may
well mean different things to different people. It
was Catholic Action that nerved the early Christian
martyrs to face the ferocious beasts in the arena,

for they well knew that their blood would become
the fertile seed of the Christian faith. Catholic

Action, too, inspired the early Christians of the

Catacombs to brave even death itself in order that

they might help preserve “the pearl of great price”

for future generations. Call it what you will, but

it was nothing more than Catholic Action that fired

the Crusaders of old with a fearless courage to do

and die in defense of the places made eternally sacred

by the Feet of Christ. Just as it was Catholic



WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH 27

Action that urged Patrick in the fifth century to

kneef at the feet of PopeCelestine and plead with him
for his commission to carry the faith to the Emerald
Isle—so, too, was it Catholic Action that inspired
Lord Baltimore in the seventeenth century to es-
tablish a haven of religious liberty in the new world.

CATHOLIC ACTION AND MISSION AID
The duty and obligation of helping the missions

is universal—it is incumbent upon us all. But for
Catholics in the United States there is an added

reason for giving this co-operation. It is that

prompted by the human sense of gratitude. Every-
thing of a religious character which we received
came from overseas. To sense the gratitude which
we should feel we need only to follow the trails of a
few of our pioneer missionaries. Who were they
who braved the dangers of the deep and in frail
vessels were first to touch our shores ? “Conquista-

dores”—conquerors—who came perhaps to seek
lands and gold for their sovereigns ; but always ac-
companying them were conquerors for the Christ
who sought to make subject to Him these new lands
and strange peoples of the Western World.

In all their struggles and travels there was the
glory of romance, the splendor of sacrifice, indeed,

but also suffering of mind and body so intense that
they awaited with comfort the supreme sacrifice
which would mark their journey’s end. Deservedly
can it be said of them that they fought the good
fight, they kept the faith. They died that that faith
might live and they did not die in vain. Well
might we put upon the silent lips of the heroic pio-
neer missionaries the spirited words of that famous
war poem of John McCrae which was inspired by our



28 WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH

martyred dead in Flanders Fields. It contains a
silent plea from the graves of our heroic soldiers
urging their living successors to hold aloft the

torch of courage—to carry on the combat from
where they left off—to carry it on to victorious
end.

Take up our quarrel with the foe;
To you, from failing hands, we throw
The torch. Be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep though poppies grow

In Flanders Fields.

Who of us can turn a deaf ear to this plea? The
trails of light which heroic missionaries have left

—

we of the prsent generation must follow. The
torch which they carried, passed down to their
successors, we in turn must now bear aloft,

THE CATHOLIC MISSIONARIES IN AMERICA

Look at the map of North America—hardly a
state in our union which does not revere the memory
of a saintly missionary priest. It is only a few
weeks ago that in Ludington, Michigan, a pageant

was held commemorating the 300th anniversary of
the death of Pere Marquette. This pageant was
written by a great American, a Bishop of the Pro-

testant Episcopal Church. Yes, every river and lake

from the old citadel of Quebec on the St. Lawrence
to the villages along the Mississippi, treasures the

pioneer missionary’s saintly memory.

Within a stone’s throw of Niagara Falls upon the

present military reservation the National Park
Service of the United States Government is erecting
a cross to the great Jesuit missionary, Father Jean

Millet. This cross will forever stand as an ever-



WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH 29

lasting memorial to the Apostolic lives and heroic

deaths of the early Catholic missionaries.

It seems only a few months ago since the entire
population of Maryland, headed by its distinguished

Governor, gathered at old St. Mary’s to give honor

to Father Andrew White, the first missionary priest,
the first minister of religion, of that great State of

religious freedom.

Cross into Indiana to the old Fort Vincennes

where only a short time ago was celebrated the
100th anniversary of the foundation of the diocese

in that State. See the growth of Brute’s work—log-
cabins were the Churches then—now magnificent in-
stitutions everywhere. Go to Notre Dame in the
same State and see what the tiny seed planted by
Father Sorin has become—a mighty tree, the world
famous University of Notre Dame. Cross the
mighty Father of Waters into the present State of
Iowa if you want to know what gratitude we should
hold for the pioneer missionary. Read the story of
the historic City of Dubuque, of its saintly Father

Mazzuchelli, and of the heroic Bishop Cretin. Ven-
ture down the Mississippi to the historic city, with
a fleur de lis in its escutcheon, named after the saint-
ly King of France, St. Louis. See in that magnificent
city the marks of the work of Catholic mission-
aries: Rosati, DeAndreis, Mother Duchesne, all of
whom began their work in log huts in the wilder-
ness, all of them seeking to capture the souls of men
to Christ.

Venture farther down the Mississippi to New
Orleans. Its foundations were 'laid in 1699 by
Fathers Joliet, Antoine Davion, and Francois
Busion, all priests of the Catholic Church.



30 WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH

FATHER DE SMET

Let us move northward again to the banks of
the Missouri and invoke the spirit of the great
Father De Smet, the Black Robe par excellence.
Let him tell us of his love for the redmen and let
him repeat again their call to him to come and save
them. Let us go with him by the forts along the
rivers and out on the plains and ask him what he is
preaching to them; his answer will be: “the Doc-
trines of Christ as they were given to Peter and the
Apostles”. “The rugged rock yields him altar-step

;

the clematis and the honeysuckle give him incense;
the dome of heaven is his Church roof ; and up
above the mountain tops, above the white clouds, all

the matchless music of the summer goes floating
heavenwards, higher than the eagles soar, bearing

his prayer to the throne-step of God.” Cross over

i the Great Divide; to the south of you is the Moun-
tain of the Holy Cross and beyond the peaceful val-

leys that lead to the Pacific where the flowers

bloom in eternal sunshine. We pass the forests of
eternal sentinels of Sequoia and redwoods more
commanding than the cedars of Lebanon. We have
left behind the Sioux, the Cherokees, and the

Chippewas, and the black robes who have labored
among them, but the first voice which we hear as
we reach the pleasant waters of the Pacific is that
of Father Serra and his brother Franciscans, sing-

ing the vesper songs by the waters of the Western

Sea. Here they had built the wonderful Camino
Real, the royal highway, and set at every day’s

journey a sacred shrine, which is still the greatest

glory of the Golden State.

So from coast to coast, from Canadian border



WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH 31

to the Gulf, we find evidence of the pioneer work of
Catholic missionaries. They have left their lasting
impress upon the soil of North America. But
theirs was not a wordly self-seeking purpose—their
lives of indescribable sacrifices and apostolic labors
could only have been motivated by a supernatural
cause, namely, the spreading of the Kingdom of
Christ upon earth.

THE OBLIGATION OF GRATITUDE
In addition to the duty which we all have as

Caholics to carry out to the letter Our Lord’s com-
mand, “Going teach all nations”, we have, then,
as Americans, this added incentive of gratitude

for favors which we have received in the
past. For whatever can be said of Americans,
they can never be called ungrateful. During

the World War when our forces went over-
seas, under the generalship of Pershing, America
was not unmindful of its debt of gratitude to France
for assistance rendered in the past'—and General
Pershing aptly expressed those sentiments at the

moment, when before the tomb of our revered bene-
factor, he exclaimed : “Lafayette, we are here !” The
American people had journeyed across a hazardous
ocean to return a debt of gratitude to a nation that

had given her one of its heroic sons at a time when
our future national existence hung in the balance.
Several months ago when news reached our shores
of the death of the great Polish statesman, Pilsud-

ski, all America bowed its head in mournful reverent
tribute to the memory of Poland’s National Leader.
But in the memory of Pilsudski, America had only
renewed afresh in grateful memory the hallowed
names of Pulaski and Kosciusko: we but gratefully



32 WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH

recalled the lives of these two great Polish generals
who had rendered indispensable services to us
during the struggle for independence. Yes, the
American people shall ever be grateful to the
memory of their benefactors.

With this oft-proved truth in mind, what can
we say of the debt of gratitude which we still owe
to the memory of the early pioneer missionaries ? To
these apostolic men of God who willingly conse-
crated the New World with their martyred bodies
and freely sanctified its virgin soil with their blood

;

those pioneer Apostles to whom our country is in-
debted beyond recompense for its early civilization

and consequent Christian growth? What shall we
render to their sacred memory? How can we
best return, at least in some measure, the great
debt of gratitude which we owe to them for our
faith? How, we ask? By perpetuating in our own
lives the same missionary spirit which was theirs, by
participating in the great cause of Catholic Action,

which is at the same time the cause of the missions.
This surely we can all do—but in diverse ways. If
we are young and still responsive to the high ideals
which generous youth enkindles, we can volunteer
for mission work as did Father Gallitsin, Father
Damien, or Brother Dutton, or as are doing each

year many thousands of recruits to the Numidian
legion of the Church. But naturally, these are
only the chosen few who are divinely appointed to
assume such a life of sacrifice and responsibility.

“You have not chosen me”, says Christ, “but I have
chosen you ; and have appointed you, that you should

go and bring forth fruit; and your fruit should

remain.”



WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH 33

HOW CAN WE SHOW OUR GRATITUDE?
If the majority of us can not respond to that

divine call, we can, however, all of us do something
that is just as necessary, important, and indis-

pensable, for the success of the missions. And
that first and important something is that we can all
help the missions by our prayers. The non-Catholic
poet, Tennyson, reminds us : “More things are
wrought by prayer than this world dreams of”. We
all know full well the supernatural efficacy of prayer
—we know, too, how much the success of the mis-
sions in fields afar is dependent upon the prayers at
home. A holy old Bishop, who had spent 43 years
in the Orient, once told me : “Whenever we make a
great number of conversions from among the native
population, the people at home say: How hard the
missionaries must labor, what sacrifices they must
be making : but we missionaries in the field say : How
fervent must be the prayers of the people at home
for us.” All can pray, and Our Saviour commanded
us to do so when He said: “The harvest indeed is
great, but the laborers are few. Pray the Lord of the
harvest, that he send forth laborers into harvest.”

Next Sunday is Mission Sunday. It is a day
set aside by the Holy Father for prayer for the
missions and for the missionaries; and it is the
obligation of all Catholics who pray daily in the Our
Father, “Thy Kingdom come”, to send prayers
heavenward that the labors of the missionaries may
be blessed with success

; that the hearts of the native

peoples will be touched by their words; and that
God will give to the missionary men and women
in the field the courage to bear the hardships of the

day and the heat.



34 WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH

Not only must we pray for the missions, but we
must also make sacrifices for them. If you can not
fight in the trenches with the soldiers of your coun-

try in time of war, it is your patriotic duty to co-

operate with them by sharing what you have with
them. We remember the patriotic fervor with
which the American people responded to the call of
their country during the World War. All were
not sent overseas—but all were asked to give “until
it hurts”. Those who fight the battles of Christ
in the front trenches have made the great sacrifice

;

they are living in poverty
;
they are handicapped by

lack of means. We at home can at least by our
alms do our part with them to bring to the one
Fold and one Shepherd the lost sheep for which
the Heart of the Saviour yearns. The gifts which
we make to that cause are surely investments which
will never gather rust and which will pay dividends

to us all in the great day of eternity.

THE PROPAGATION OF THE FAITH
How best can we help the missionaries by our

alms? Pius XI tells us that we can help them best
by supporting the Society for the Propagation of the

Faith. He says: “All Christian people should aid,
through their generosity, the work of the Propaga-
tion of the Faith which of all the mission organiza-

tions is the principal one.” This Society has a rep-

resentative in every diocese of the United States. It

is the world wide community chest for the missions
of the Church. Catholics who are really Catholics
at heart and mean what they say when they pray in
the Our Father, “Thy Kingdom come”, must be
members of this Society. By prayer, by sacrifice, by
alms, the goal for which we pray will be reached

—

His Kingdom upon earth will be universally estab-



WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH 35

lished. Those who dwell in the desert wilderness
will hear His Name and kneel before Him.

I have been deeply impressed by that prayer of
the Italian author, Papini, who, as you know, had
wandered far away from his father’s house, and had
lived as a prodigal riotously; who came to himself
by the thought of the graces his Father had still in
his giving. And who a few years ago upon his re-
turn to the Church, wrote that extraordinary book,

“The Life of Christ”. In a concluding chapter of
this book is to be found a prayer which must appeal
to our human sympathy and our Christian charity

;

for it is the genuine heart-rending prayer of one

who had himself experienced that sense of complete
loss of faith and utter spiritual abandonment. A
loss which can only be best described and retold by
those who have themselves suffered this sad ex-
perience. But once again Papini returns to his
father’s house and now prays for others. And this,
his concluding prayer, we all might well make our
prayer today and fervently repeat it in behalf of
the millions of others who are at this moment
steeped in the darkness of paganism and irreligion.

“All have need of thee,” Papini prays, “even
those who know it not—indeed these latter much
more than those who know. The famished imagine
they want bread—and they are hungering for Thee.
The thirsty think it is water they need—and they
are thirsting for Thee. The sick fancy they are
feverishly yearning for health—and their real ail-
ment is the want of Thee. The pursuers of earthly
beauty are unconsciously seeking Thee, perfect and
consummate* Beauty. The thoughtful searchers
after truth are unwittingly longing for Thee, the



36 WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH

only Truth worth knowing. Those sighing for
peace are seeking Thee, the only Peace where the
most agitated hearts may find repose. All these
are calling Thee, and their cry is unspeakably more
pathetic than is our own.”



WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH 37

HEROES OF CHRISTIAN CHARITY
Address delivered on October 20, 1935

When the famous regiment of Frederick the
Great sallied forth to battle, each soldier bore upon
his breast-plate the significant words—“Ich Dien”

—

“I Serve”—for this was the inspiring motto of the
regiment

;
it was the silent pledge of the loyalty and

devotion of each soldier to the cause and ambitions
of his great Emperor and royal leader.

There is another regiment in the world today
;
it

is composed of men and women from every country
and every clime. Its daily conflict is not for terri-
torial expansion or other material gain—no—its
purpose is a more sublime one—a nobler ambition;
namely, the conquest of the human heart, the sal-
vation of immortal souls. This alone is the final un-

selfish objective of its daily tireless expeditions of

mercy in the fields of Christian Charity. The uni-
form of each member of this regiment is not the
colorful uniform of a soldier of Frederick, but
rather the sombre, simple garb of the Catholic relig-

ious. No steel breast-plate of defense is theirs, but
like Constantine the Great their only defense and in-
spiration is to be found in the shadow of the
cross. Unlike the soldiers of Frederick, the motto

“I Serve” is not inscribed upon their modest garbs
but rather is it branded eternally upon their willing
hearts—not merely as a temporary pledge of social
service, but rather as a perpetual dedication, an

everlasting consecration, of their very lives to the

cause of charity, to the cause of the Eternal Leader

of all mankind.



38 WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH

WORLD LOVES HEROES
The world loves to show its respect and admira-

tion for the man who performs some heroic deed in
behalf of humanity—for the man who does some-
thing remarkable for the progress of the world. In
life it honors such a man—in death it sanctifies the
memory of his immortal name. It cherishes the
name of a Columbus for his discoveries; it admires
the genius of a Michelangelo ; it reveres the name of a
Louis Pasteur who accomplished so much for the
benefit of human-kind. In a word the world vener-
ates the names of all its greatest heroes and bene-
factors—and rightly so. So is it, too*, with the
Catholic Church. The Church venerates the names
of its many heroes—saintly heroes of Christian
charity—heroic members, these, of that great
Christian army known to the world as Catholic mis-
sionaries; a mighty army of noble men and women
who have willingly consecrated themselves to the
service of God, who have vowed themselves to the
cause of suffering humanity—faithful successors in-
deed to the Good Samaritan spoken of by Christ in
the Gospel, worthy disciples to whom the Divine
Master might again address those words of Scrip-
ture: “As long as you did it to one of these my
least brethren, you did it to me. . . I was hungry,
and you gave me to eat : I was thirsty, and you gave
me to drink; I was a stranger, and you took me
in”.

SUBLIME HEROISM
Ralph Waldo Emerson tells us that “the char-

acteristic of genuine heroism is its persistency”. In

the light of this definition where shall we find hero-
ism so genuine, where shall we behold personal sac-



WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH 39

rifice and self abnegation so persistent and so gener-
ous, as in the daily lives of the missionary priests,

brothers, and sisters of the Catholic Church—heroic
saintly men and women who have everlastingly
consecrated themselves to the alleviation of suffering

mankind, whose very lives are a real human holo-
caust voluntarily and courageously placed upon the
altar of afflicted humanity. “Greater love than this

no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his
friends”. Truly, then, as persistency is the char-

acteristic of genuine heroism, in the life of every

Catholic missionary is to be found. . . heroism

sublime.

When we try to appraise genuine Christian
heroism, our thoughts unconsciously revert to those

Apostolic men and women who have taken up their
abode in the leper colonies of the world—courageous
soldiers of Christ, true heroes of Christian charity

who have sacrificed their all, who have themselves
willingly assumed the care of these pitifully dis-
tressed people.

FATHER DAMIEN AND BROTHER DUTTON

If I were asked today to recall a name par ex-
cellence from the roster of Christian heroes, the
revered name of Father Damien, a humble Belgian
peasant priest, would come trippingly to my lips.
He it was who became the Apostle to the lepers of
Molokai and for fifteen long years lived and labored
for his afflicted people. After three years of Christ-

like service amongst them, he himself contracted the

devastating malady and for twelve painful years
thereafter he continued his daily ministrations, until

one sad day this Grim Disease finally conquered an-



40 WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH

other leper—Damien died a hero of Christian char-
ity.

Nearly one-half century ago the name of Father
Damien was on the lips of the world; his name and
the phrase “heroic sacrifice” had almost become
synonymous terms. It was held in benediction by
a grateful world that revered the names of its noblest
heroes and benefactors. Upon his death England
sent across the sea to Molokai a beautiful granite

cross to be erected as a lasting monument to the
memory of this heroic priest. Even a Belgian So-
cialist Journal voted Damien the third greatest Bel-
gian of all Belgian history.

Robert Louis Stevenson, who was not a Catholic,
also paid a glowing tribute to the bravery, the sacri-

fice, and the perseverance of this courageous Apostle,

when he described Molokai, the field of Damien’s
life long labors, as “a pitiful place to visit and a hell

to dwell in”. Walter Gibson, Minister of Foreign

Affairs and President of the Board of Health in
Hawaii, commenting on Damien’s life of sacrifice for
the lepers, said: “We care not what this man’s
theology may be, he is surely a Christian hero.”
Such was the worldwide tribute paid to a humble
peasant priest who had given his life for suffering
humanity.

But Damien’s theology was the theology of the
Catholic Church. His theology was that of Christ’s
sermon on the Mount—a theology founded on love
for our fellow-man out of love for God. It was
the same theology that sent to Damien a noble suc-
cessor and helper in the person of Ira Dutton, an

American, who later became known as Brother
Joseph. A convert to the Catholic Church at the



WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH 41

age of forty, Brother Joseph, like Father Damien,

devoted his entire life thereafter to the cause of

the leper. After forty years of such service and
devotion, Brother Joseph died persevering to the

very end—a faithful apostle of Damien, a true hero
of Christian charity. In his recent book, “The
Samaritans of Molokai”, Charles Dutton, a Uni-

tarian Minister of Iowa and a distant relative of
Brother Joseph, pays high tribute to the memory
of these two humble servants of God and of man.

SISTER MARIANNE
There is yet the name of another hero of Christ-

ian charity which perhaps is not so universally
known as the names of Damien and Dutton. And
yet in their pioneer days at Molokai, this saintly

woman and her two sister companions labored side
by side with these two apostles of the South Pacific.
It was only after thirty years or more of indescrib-
able sacrifice and unspeakable hardship that she

finally received eternal rest from, her daily labors

amidst the ravages of leprosy. Sister Marianne—

a

nun of the Franciscan Order, whose convent, at
Syracuse, New York, is still staffing the colony

—

shall ever be remembered by the lepers of Molokai.
As an eternal expression of gratitude, they have
erected on the Isle a suitable monument to the
memory of this “Angel of Christian Mercy”.

When Robert Louis Stevenson visited Molokai, it
was Sister Marianne and her sister co-laborers who
conducted him on his tour of the leprosarium. She
it was whom he interviewed and from whom he
gained much knowledge concerning the life and con-
ditions of the lepers. So favorably was Stevenson
impressed by the piety, the devotion, the sacrifice



42 WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH

of these heroic nuns, that he could not restrain from
penning an honest tribute

:

“To see the infinite pity of this place,
The mangled limb, the devastated face,
The innocent sufferers smiling at the rod,
A fool were tempted to deny his God.
He sees and shrinks; but if he look again
Lo, beauty springing from the breast of pain!

—

He marks the sisters on the painful shores,
And even a fool is silent and adores.”

Damien, Dutton, Marianne—Priset, Brother,
Sister, of the Catholic Church—a noble trinity of
Christian heroes—true apostles of the true Christ
—worthy predecessors of the thousands of other
heroic missionary priests, brothers, and sisters, who
have since carried on and are at present faithfully

carrying on the great work which they had so nobly
begun.

Ah, yes, perhaps the modern sceptic may sneer,
the materialist laugh to scorn the heroic deeds of

these consecrated apostles of charity ; they may
ironically claim that in their sacrifices they have

given up everything for nothing—whereas these
faithful, devoted apostles of Christ would with sin-

cerity retort that in reality they had given up noth-

ing for everything. To use the words of St. Hugh
of Lincoln: “Lepers are the flowers of paradise,

pearls in the coronet of the Eternal King.”

Cecil John Rhodes, the great English colonizer
and statesman, was responsible in great measure
for British domination over all South Africa. Due
to his initiative thousands of square miles of terri-

tory were added to the British Empire. Despite his
world activities and accomplishments for the Im-
perial Crown, before he died at Muizenberg he



WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH 43

uttered these regretful words: “So little done, so

much to do.”
The Catholic Church at the present time is

caring for over 25,000 lepers in the leper colonies of

the world. Her missionaries are in charge of
approximately 107 leper asylums and additional dis-
pensaries, including the leper colony at Sheklung.

the largest institution of its kind in China, if not

in the entire world. Yet, despite her many chari-
table institutions, when she beholds the universal
panorama of suffering afflicted humanity, when she
hears the sobs and sighs of thousands of other

humans crying in the wilderness, when she realizes
the greatness of the harvest and the fewness of the

laborers—then, too, does she in a spirit of sympathy
and Christian charity give expression to the self-

same words of Cecil Rhodes : “So little done, so
much to do.”

A great man, speaking of the sad plight of the
'lepers, once said : “One is sometimes ashamed to be
happy seeing so great depths of misery.” Yet in or-
der that we might better understand the life of heroic
sacrifices endured by the Catholic missionary in the
land of the lepers, in order that we might the
better appraise and appreciate what they are doing
in the name of Christian charity, I would ask you
to hear with me while I quote from the writings of
Robert Louis Stevenson. It is a lasting impression

which he received as a consequence of his visit to
the lepers of Molokai. He says:

“Had you found every fourth face a blot upon the
landscape; had you visited the hospital and seen the
butt-ends of human beings lying there almost unrecog-
nizable, but still breathing, still thinking, still remember-
ing; you would have understood that life in the lazar-
etto is an ordeal from which the nerves of a man’s spirit



44 WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH

shrink, even as his eye quails under the brightness of the
sun; you would have felt is was a pitiful place to visit
and a hell to dwell in. It is not the fear of possible in-
fection. That seems a little thing when compared with
the pain, the pity, and the disgust of the visitor’s sur-
roundings, and the atmosphere of affliction, disease, and
physical disgrace in which he breathes. I do not think
I am a man more than usually timid; but I never recall
the days and nights I spent upon that island promontory
without heartfelt thankfulness that I am somewhere
else. I find in my diary that I speak of my stay as a
‘grinding experience’; I have once jotted in the margin
‘Harrowing is the word’; and when the Mokolii bore me
at last towards the outer world, I kept repeating to my-
self, with a new conception of their pregnancy those
simple words of the song—‘Tis the most distressful coun-
try that ever yet was seen.’ ”

LEPERS IN THE UNITED STATES
When we speak of the leper, we think of the

leper colonies only in China, Japan, India, Madagas-

car, Molokai, Fiji, and the many other leper asy-
lums of the Orient and the South Pacific. We are
inclined to look upon this malady as something ab-
solutely foreign to our own shores. It may be of
interest to many to learn that there is a leper hospital
within the confines of our own country. It may also
be of added interest to know that this hospital—The
United States Marine Hospital—is a Federal Insti-
tution; it is located at Carville, Louisana, a short

distance from New Orleans, and is otherwise known
as The National Home for Lepers—the only one of
its kind in the United States. Strange as it may
seem, it is staffed and conducted by sixteen Catholic
Sisters—Sisters of Charity whose white cornettes
hover day and night over the bedsides of the un-
fortunate inmates.

And thus like the Catholic Church herself, Catho-
lic charity is indeed universal. It knows no par-
ticular clime—it has no definite limitations. Her



WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH 45

heroic self-sacrificing missionaries are found on

every frontier from the frozen Arctic shores to the
sun baked lands of the South Pacific. Where misery,
poverty, and human suffering, is at its worst—here
these Apostles of charity will be found at their best,
extending the hand of Christian mercy to all, re-
gardless of color, race, or creed. Truthfully with

Saint Paul can these genuine heroes of Christian

charity exclaim : “and the greatest of these is char-

ity”. To paraphrase one of Kipling’s poems:

“There is neither East or West
Border nor breed nor birth,
When the children of Christ stand face to face
Though they come from the ends of the earth.”



46 WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH

HER MISSIONARY PROGRAM
Address delivered on October 27, 1935

Nineteen hundred years ago a weary traveler
trudged along the Appain way, his face toward the
Imperial City. That historic road was bordered on
either side by the sepulchres of kings, consuls, and
patricians. Alone and poor and weak, the Chief of
the Apostles walked between these shadows of de-

parted greatness to found in Rome the eternal
capital of Christ’s Kingdom on earth. If you had
put to the Prince of the Apostles the question:

“What is your missionary program?”, he would have
made this answer: “The program of the Church of
which Our Saviour made me the visible head is not
merely the establishment of a Headquarters in the

Eternal City. It is today, and must always be the
constant extension of His Kingdom to reach all the
peoples of the earth.”

CHURCH FOLLOWS PETER’S STEPS
The course of the Church through the long path

of time is very similar to Peter’s journey along the

Appian way. On either side of her road during
twenty centuries lie the ruins of empires, kingdoms,

republics, and of majesty that is no longer. Thus in
the light of history the Catholic Church has justly
earned that tribute given her by the renowned non-

Catholic Macaulay when he wrote that “there is not
and there never was on the earth another institution
comparable to the Catholic Church”. By compari-
son with the antiquity of the Catholic Church, he

remarks: “kingdoms and empires founded centuries



WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH 47

ago are but modern, and after 2000 years she is

still full of life and youthful vigor”, but despite her
antiquity, despite the ever-changing whims of time
—her answer to the question put to St. Peter must
necessarily have been the same.

In the fifth century, when Atilla the scourge of
God camped his armies outside the walls of the
Eternal City, if you had asked that question of Pope
Leo the Great, the great Pontiff would have answer-
ed: “The program of the Church is not merely to
defend Rome from the barbarous hordes which
threaten it, but it is and must always be to press
forward everywhere and to gain the individual
souls of these barbarians to the teachings of

Christ”.

If in the eleventh century you had put that ques-
tion to Hildebrand, Gregory the Seventh, then con-
testing with proud kings for the rights of common
people, he would have answered as did St. Peter:
“The program of the Church is not merely the
present one of convincing the proud monarchs of
their duties to their people, but it is that of preach-

ing the Kingdom of Christ throughout the world”.
If, in 1810, in that bare room at Fontainebleau

where Pius VII was the prisoner of Napoleon, you
had asked him that same question, he, too, would
have answered: “The program of the Church is
not merely the incidental one of releasing the Sov-

ereign Pontiff from his imprisonment, but it is to
press forward and to gain all souls to Christ”.

PRESENT PROBLEMS OF THE CHURCH
Today in various nations of the world the Church

is faced by vexing problems. Governments which
count millions of Catholics as citizens are reverting



48 WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH

to atheistic methods in education; they are seeking

to impregnate youth with a nationalistic virus more
deadly than overt poison. Yet Pius XI, the 261st
successor of Peter, is not swayed from the program
of Peter. He can well say: “Yes, we have today
Apostles like Julian of old; they sit in high places;

they appeal to the mob spirit ; they seek to dethrone
God and His Church; they exult over the crippling
of the Church’s program of education and of charity

;

they seek as Lucifer to become as God. Indeed, the
times seem unsuited for the Church’s advance. It
would seem that now is the time to repair the damage
done at home and not to venture abroad, but I, as the
successor of Peter, must follow the same command
given to him : “ ‘Go, teach ye all nations’ ”. If even
in these troubled times you ask Pius XI what is the
missionary program of the Church, he will answer:
“It is today in the twentieth century what it was in
the first: to be constantly on the move forward.
‘Either history must advance or it will retrograde’
is an ancient axiom. So, too, might we say of the
Church—either the Church must advance—must
extend herself, or she will surely retrograde; she

will prove herself faithless and indifferent to that
divine command: ‘Preach the Gospel to every
creature’. Like the blood in the human body, the
Church can never be stagnant—like the heart she
must always beat; her missionary program must
always be to gain every living soul to Christ.”

Pius XI answered this question in his great En-
cyclical, Rerum Ecclesiae, when he said: “Whoso-
ever by Divine Commission takes the place on earth
of the Chief Shepherd, fails in his especial duty and
obligation, unless he strives with might and main



)

WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH 49

to win over to Christ all those who are still without
the Fold”.

Most men form their judgments from the imme-
diate present. They do not learn from the lessons
of the past ; they seek to form no approximation of
the future. The present is their entire world. Not
so those guided by Faith. They live by clearly
defined principles, which are not of today or yester-

day, but are eternal.

I ask you to read the political history of the world

and look at the thrones overturned one after an-
other. At one time we were able to count them ; now
they are as numberless as the stars. Look at the
charters and treaties and constitutions which have
been written, rewritten, written again, and then torn
to shreds. Look at the revolutions which have
scourged every people. The revolutionary fever is
in the blood of peoples

;
it might be intermittent, but

it never ceases to run in their veins. And the
kings and emperors and rulers and princes and legis-
lators, who prate of civilization as if they were
creators of it, can not hold together their own gov-
ernments.

The Church of Christ, however, can not be
swayed from her divine task of teaching men by
mere temporary phenomena of political history.
Drunk with temporary power czars and autocrats
may restrict religious liberty; they may strut their
brief hour upon the political stage—they may play
their supposedly important roles in the drama of
world history, but before the applause has died

down, the curtain of oblivion is drawn down upon
them. Their part is full of sound and fury, signify-
ing nothing. Truly does the poet remark: “Princes



50 WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH

and lords may flourish or they may fade. A breath
can make them as a breath has made.”

THE CHURCH MUST CARRY ON
But their temporary ravings can not interfere

with the eternal missionary program of the Church.
She must continue to do what she has been doing
for twenty centuries: to teach the doctrines of

Christ and to touch the souls and the bodies of men
with His mercy and His compassion. If you think of
it at all, I am confident that you are persuaded that
the one hope for the future of the world, the stabil-

ity of governments, the moral elevation of mankind,

lies in the application of the teachings of Christ.

True, the Church must adjust the methods used
for her program to the immediate emergencies of
the age. But no one can doubt, who reads history
carefully, that since the World War the Catholic
Church has made and is making majestic strides
forward in fulfilling her Divine mission. After the

Treaty of Versailles, a great English statesman,

Lord Cecil, said that all the nations which took part

in the World War lost it, and that the only power
which gained from the War was the Catholic
Church.

We know very well how true the first part of his
statement was. All the nations indeed lost ; not only

in man-power, not alone in material resources,

fleets and colonies—these were only petty losses;
the chief loss of all governments lay principally

and above all in the devoted loyalty of their citizens.

Everywhere the red hand of anarchy and commu-
nism; everywhere disrespect for, and disobedience

to, established authority. All the nations indeed

have lost, and as a result of the War there are grow-



WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH 51

ing up all over the world two forms of political faith,
exaggerated nationalism and red internationalism.

To even the, most casual observer it is evident that
while political organizations have grown weaker
since the War, the Catholic Church has grown more
united internally and more wide-spread externally.
This is the thought which I would like to leave with
you this evening.

HER UNITY NOW MOST EVIDENT
At no time in her long history has her extension

been more marked than it is at the present time. At
no time has her unity, both within and without, been

so complete. Never has her universality so nearly

approached its fulness. First, I will refer to the

unity of the Church : In the past centuries she has
had to pass through times of dissension, periods of
internal intellectual conflicts of every kind. There

have been separations and external disunion, but also

internal confusion. In past centuries she has had to
contend with Byzantine Emperors, Kaisers, Czars,

and Kings, who tainted the Church by their pat-
ronage, smothered her by their protection, and strove
against her in proud boldness. There was never a
period, down to the vanishing away of the last of
these great Empires, in which they did not wrestle

foot to foot with the Catholic Church.

Then came a period of growing nationalism, when
the unity of the Church was torn asunder. Where
are these throned monarchies and their dynasties
now? They are forgotten. Yet, the Catholic
Church is flourishing, whether under the tropical
sun, or in the frigid north. Everywhere her chil-
dren recite the same creed, participate in the same
Sacraments, acknowledge One common head, the



52 WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH

successor of St. Peter. Everywhere Bishops,
whether of the white or the yellow or the brown race,
are united to the Chair of Peter. In turn, their

priests are joined to them in obedient affection ; and
finally, the people of the various races are united

to their priests with that same spiritual devotion.
There never has been a time when the external and
internal unity of the whole Catholic Church upon
earth were more complete. And no more splendid
example of their unity is to be found than among the
freest peoples of the earth where thought and words
and act have their most perfect liberty.

HER UNIVERSALITY
Not only is her unity more evident today than

ever before, but never in her long history of twenty

centuries has her universality advanced so near to

the full circumference of the human race. It was a
sailor of the U. S. Navy, who, when asked why he
had become a Catholic, answered: “Because in my
travels I have observed that that Church is every-

where.” And that is true; She is pressing forward
into the five continents of the world. Europe and the

two Americas have opened their doors to her.
Africa is unfolding its gates—our missionaries are
there in great numbers. Asia is being penetrated

on every side. In the lonely isles of the Pacific there

are to be found chapels and hospitals of the Catholic

Church. The Church is not pent up within four
seas, or limited to one nation; nor is her heart

feeble
; but the pulsations of her mighty and undying

life are constantly sending out light and grace with

which the Heart of God inspires her, even to the
ends of the earth. She is accomplishing her mission,

always and to this day, fulfilling to the letter the



WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH 53

commandment of its Divine Head to “preach the
Gospel to every creature.”

There are several signs which indicate that the

Catholic Church is on the eve of a great expansion.
The first, which I wish to call to your attention is
this : That the field is ripe for it. Men of all races
sense the need of a God-given organization, a spiri-

tual league of nations in which all men can share the
gifts from on high. Races which up until recent
times have been considered backward, are now
making great strides forward. They have made
scientific and mechanical progress, but like our own
people, they want something more than material
things. They want the things of the spirit. They
want communion with their Maker. They want the
graces won by Our Redeemer on the Cross. This
universal desire can be filled only by a universal
Church—not confined to one nationality, not dis-
criminating between men on account of their color.

The second sign which promises an expansion
of the Church is the downfall of the so-called Na-
tional Churches. For centuries they have leaned
upon thrones and dynasties. When these fell, the
National Churches were doomed to fall with them.
The World War served only to bring out a confusion
which already existed. It was only to emphasize the
need of one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism. National

Churches, dependent upon a throne, are rapidly be-
coming only the shadows of a dream. Even primi-
tive peoples discern in them the halting step and fal-
tering voice of human guides not sure of their way.

The third sign which holds great promise for
the advance of the Church is the mighty increase in
the mission spirit which has come over our people.



54 WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH

not only in the Catholic nations of Europe, which

have always sent missinaries, but also in America.

It is said of Scipio that in the Roman Senate he
made vigorous protest against the recruiting of the
youth of Rome to the Numidian legion, for, he said

:

“This legion of Rome undertakes impossible tasks.
The courage of its members is so great that they
never go into battle without being decimated”. The
foreign missionaries are the Numidian legion of the
Church, and our young men and young women who
love high adventure for a great ideal are volunteer-

ing in great numbers for this service. Their
weapons are not sword or rifle or machine gun:
their only shield, the Cross; their only weapon, the

burning words of Christ.

A GREAT MISSIONARY POPE
And another hopeful sign for the advance of the

Church in our time is that in the designs of Divine
Providence a great missionary now sits in the Chair
of Peter and wears the ring of the Fisherman. “From
the first moment of our Pontificate”, Pius XI says,
“the missions have been our one concern, the advance
of the Church, our chief aspiration. The Church
has no other reason for existence than, by enlarging
the Kingdom of Christ throughout the world, to
make all men share in His saving redemption.”

,

I leave ofl:, then, where I began. The missionary
program of the Catholic Church has never changed
since Peter’s time. It can never change! “Wars
and devastations, inroads and invasions, may sweep
the lands, and the hill-sides may see fire and famine,
and the valleys may hear wail and lamentation
ringing through myriad ages yet unborn ; but never,
through the vast catalogue of sorrow of the sons of



WHAT CIVILIZATION OWES TO THE CHURCH 55

men, shall the light of thirst be quenched. Nay,

the tears and travail of coming generations shall
be but fresh fuel to spread over God’s earth this

holy flame—beyond the shores, beyond the oceans,
into the continents yet unborn, the sacred light will

touch the hilltops of Time until it merges at last
into the endless radiance of Eternity

!”



CARDINAL HAYES STATES AIMS
OF THE CATHOLIC HOUR

(Extract from his address at the inaugural program in the

studio of the National Broadcasting Company, New York
City, March 2, 1930.)

Our congratulations and our gratitude are extended to the
National Council of Catholic Men and its officials, and to all
who, by their financial support, have made it possible to use
this offer of the National Broadcasting Company. The heavy

expense of managing and financing a weekly program, its
musical numbers, its speakers, the subsequent answering of

inquiries, must be met. ...
This radio hour is for all the people of the United States.

To our fellow-citizens, in this word of dedication, we wish to
express a cordial greeting and, indeed, congratulations. For

this radio hour is one of service to America, which certainly

will listen in interestedly, and even sympathetically, I am
sure, to the voice of the ancient Church with its historic

background of all the centuries of the Christian era, and

with its own notable contribution to the discovery, explora-
tion, foundation and growth of our glorious country. . . .

Thus to voice before a vast public the Catholic Church is
no light task. Our prayers will be with those who have that
task in hand. We feel certain that it will have both the
good will and the good wishes of the great majority of our

countrymen. Surely, there is no true lover of our Country
who does not eagerly hope for a less worldly, a less material,
and a more spiritual standard among our people.

With good will, with kindness and with Christ-like sympa-
thy for all, this work is inaugurated. So may it continue.
So may it be fulfilled. This word of dedication voices, there-
fore, the hope that this radio hour may serve to make known,
to explain with the charity of Christ, our faith, which we
love even as we love Christ Himself. May it serve to make
better understood that faith as it really is—a light revealing
the pathway to heaven: a strength, and a power divine
through Christ: pardoning our sins, elevating, consecrating

our common every-day duties and joys, bringing not only
justice but gladness and peace to our searching and ques-

tioning hearts.



Hear and Help the Catholic Hour

Produced by the National Council of Catholic Men,
1312 Massachusetts Ave., N. W.,

Washington, D. C.

Presented by the National Broadcasting Company, and the
following associated stations:

Asheville, N. C. WWNG
Atlanta, Ga. WSB
Baltimore, Md. WFBR
Billings, Mont. KGHL
Birmingham, Ala. WAPj
Bismarck, N. D. KFYR
Boston, Mass. WEEI
Buffalo, N. Y. WBEN
Butte, Mont. KGIR
Cincinnati, Ohio WSAI
Charlotte, N. C. WSOC
Chicago, 111.

WMAQ or WCFL
Cleveland, Ohio WTAM
Columbia, S. C. WIS
Covington, Ky. WCKY
Dallas, Texas WFAA
Davenport, Iowa WOC
Dayton, Ohio WHI0
Des Moines, la. WHO
Denver, Colo. KOA
Detroit, Mich. WWJ
Duluth-Superior WEBG
Fargo, N. D. WDAY
Fort Worth, Tex. WBAP
Greenville, S. C. WFBC
Hartford, Conn. WTIG
Hot Springs, Ark. KTHSJ
Houston, Tex. KPRC
Indianapolis, Ind. WIRE
Jackson, Miss. WJDX
Jacksonville, Fla. WJAX
Kansas City, Mo. WDAF

Louisville, Ky. WAY f
Los Angeles, Calif. KECA
Madison, Wis. WIBA
Memphis, Tenn. WMC
Miami, Fla. WIOD
Nashville, Tenn. WSM
New York, N. Y. WEAF
New Orleans, La. WSMB
Norfolk, Va. WTAR
Oklahoma City, Okla. WKY
Omaha, Neb. WOW
Philadelphia, Pa. KYW
Phoenix, Ariz. KTAR
Pittsburgh, Pa. WCAE
Portland, Me. WCSH
Portland, Ore. KGW
Providence, R. I. WJAR
Richmond, Va. WRVA
St. Louis, Mo. KSD
St. Paul, Minn. KSTP
Salt Lake City,
Utah KDYL

San Antonio, Tex. WOAI
San Francisco, Cal. KPO
Schenectady, N. Y. WGY
Schenectady, N. Y.

(Short Wave) WZXAF
Seattle, Wash. KOMO
Shreveport, La. KTBS
Spuokane, Wash. KHQ
Tampa, Fla. WFLA
Tulsa, Okla. KVOO
Washington, D. C. WRC
Worcester, Mass. WTAG

(Most of these stations present the Catholic Hour every
Sunday at six o’clock, New York Time [D. S. T. during
summer], though some of them suspend it periodi-

cally because of local commitments, etc.)

YOUR CONTRIBUTION TO THE CONTINUANCE OF
THESE WEEKLY BROADCASTS OF CATHOLIC

TRUTH IS NEEDED AND SOLICITED.



CATHOLIC HOUR RADIO ADDRESSES
IN PAMPHLET FORM

OUR SUNDAY VISITOR is the authorized publisher of all CATHOLIC
HOUR addresses in pamphlet form. The addresses published to date, all of
which are available, are listed below. Others will be published as they are
delivered.

“The Divine Romance,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen, 80 pages
and cover. Single copy, 20c postpaid. In quantities, $9.00 per 100.

“The Moral Order” and “Mary, the Mother of Jesus,” by Dr. George
Johnson, 64 pages and cover. Single copy, 16c postpaid. In quantities,
$6.00 per 100.

“A Trilogy on Prayer,” by Rev. Thomas F. Burke, C. S. P., 32 pages
and cover. Single copy, 10c postpaid. In quantities, $5.00 per 100.

“The Story of the Bible,” by Rev. Dr. Francis L. Keenan, 64 pages and
cover. Single copy, 15c postpaid. In quantities, $6.00 per 100.

“Four Religious Founders,” by Rev. Dr. Francis J. Connell, C. SS. R.,
Rev. Benedict Bradley, O. S. B., Rev Thomas M. Schwertner, O. P., Rev.
Sigmund Cratz, O. M. Cap., and Rev. M. J. Ahern, S. J., 56 pages and
cover. Single copy, 15c postpaid. In quantities, $6.00 per 100.

“The Philosophy of Catholic Education,” by Rev. Dr. Charles L. O’Don-
nell, C. S. C., 32 pages and cover. Single copy, 10c postpaid. In quantities,
$5.00 per 100.

“Christianity and the Modern Mind,” by Rev. John A. McClorey, S. J.,
64 pages and cover. Single copy, 15c postpaid. In quantities, $6.00 per 100.

“The Moral Law,” by Rev. James M. Gillis, O. S. P., 88 pages and
cover. Single copy, 25c postpaid. In quantities, $9.50 per 100.

“Christ and His Church,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Joseph M. Corrigan, 88
pages and cover. Single copy, 25c postpaid. In quantities, $9.50 per 100.

“The Marks of the Church,” by Rev. Dr. John K. Cartwright, 48 pages
and cover. Single copy, 15c postpaid. In quantities, $5.50 per 100.

“The Organization and Government of the Church,” by Rev. Dr. Fran-
cis J. Connell, C. SS. R., 48 pages and cover. Single copy, 15c postpaid.
In quantities, $5.50 per 100.

“Moral Factors in Economic Life,” by Rev. Dr. Francis J. Haas and
Rev. John A. Ryan, 32 pages and cover. Single copy, J0c postpaid. In
quantities, $5.00 per 100.

“Divine Helps for Man,” by Rev. Dr. Edward J. Walsh, C. M., 104
pages and cover. Single copy, 30c postpaid. In quantities, $11.00 per 100.

“The Parables,” by Rev. John A. McClorey, S. J., 128 pages and cover.
Single copy, 35c postpaid. In quantities, $12.00 per 100.

“Christianity’s Contribution to Civilization,” by Rev. James M. Gillis*, C.
S. P., 96 pages and cover. Single copy, 25c postpaid. In quantities, $10.00
per 100.

“Manifestations of Christ,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen, 123
pages and cover. Single copy, 35c postpaid. In quantities, $12.00 per 100.

“The Way of the Cross,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen, 32 pages
and cover (prayer book size). Single copy, 10c postpaid. In quantities,
$3.00 per 100.

“Christ Today,” by Very Rev. Dr. Ignatius Smith, O. P., 48 pages and
cover. Single copy, 15c postpaid. In quantities, $5.50 per 100.

“The Christian Family,” by Rev. Dr. Edward Lodge Curran, 68 pages
and cover. Single copy, 20c postpaid. In quantities, $7.00 per 100.

“The Dublin Eucharistic Congress,” by His Eminence William Car-
dinal O’Connell. An address rebroadcast from Dublin, 12 pages and cover.
Single copy, 10c postpaid. In quantities, $3.75 per 100.

“Rural Catholic Action,” by Rev. Dr. Edgar Schmiedeler, O. S. B., 24
pages and cover. Single copy, 10c postpaid. In quantities, $4.50 per 100*



“Religion and Human Nature," by Rev. Dr. Joseph A. Daly, 40 pages
and cover. Single copy, 15c postpaid. In quantities, $5.50 per 100.

“The Church and Some Outstanding Problems of the Day,” by Rev.
Jones I. Corrigan, S. J., 72 pages and cover. Single copy, 20c postpaid.
In quantities, $8.00 per 100.

“Conflicting Standards,” by Rev. James M. Gillis, C. S. P., 80 pages
and cover. Single copy, 20c postpaid. In quantities, $9.00 per 100.

“The Hymn of the Conquered,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen, 128
pages and cover. Single copy, 35c postpaid. In quantities, $12.00 per 100.

“The Seven Last Words,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen (prayer-
book size), 32 pages' and cover. Single copy, 10c postpaid. In quantities,
$3.00 per 100.

“The Church and the Child,” by Rev. Dr. Paul H. Furfey, 48 pages
and cover. Single copy, 15c postpaid. In quantities, $5.50 per 100.

“Love’s Veiled Victory and Love’s Laws,” by Rev. Dr. George F.
Strohaver, S. J., 48 pages and cover. Single copy, 15c postpaid. In
quantities, $5.50 per 100.

“Religion and Liturgy,” by Rev. Dr. Francis A. Walsh, O. S. B., 32
pages and cover. Single copy, 10c postpaid. In quantities, $5.00 per 100.

“The Lord’s Prayer Today,” by Very Rev. Dr. Ignatius Smith, O. P., 64
pages and cover. Single copy, 15c postpaid. In quantities, $6.00 per 100.

“God, Man and Redemption,” by Rev. Dr. Ignatius W. Cox, S. J., 64
pages and cover. Single copy, 15c postpaid. In quantities, $6.00 per 100.

“This Mysterious Human Nature,” by Rev. James M. Gillis, C. S. P.,
48 pages and cover. Single copy, 15c postpaid. In quantities, $5.50 per 100.

“The Eternal Galilean,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen, 160 pages*
and cover. Single copy, 50c postpaid. In quantities, $16.00 per 100.

“The Queen of Seven Swords,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen
(prayer-book size), 32 pages and cover. Single copy, 10c postpaid. In
quantities, $3.00 per 100.

“The Catholic Teaching on Our Industrial System,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr.
John A. Ryan, 32 pages and cover. Single copy, 10c postpaid. In quanti-
ties, $5.00 per 100.

“The Happiness of Faith,” by Rev. Daniel A. Lord, S. J., 80 pages and
cover. Single copy, 20c postpaid. In quantities, $9.00 per 100.

“The Salvation of Human Society,” by Rev. Peter J. Bergen, C.S.P., 48
pages and cover. Single copy, 15c postpaid. In quantities, $5.50 per 100.

“Faith,” by Rev. Vincent F. Kienberger, O. P., 48 pages and cover.
Single copy, 15c postpaid. In quantities, $5.50 per 100.

“Catholic Education,” by Rev. Dr. George Johnson, 40 pages and
cover. Single copy, 15c postpaid. In quantities, $5.50 per 100.

“The Church and Her Missions,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. William Quinn, 32
pages and cover. Single copy, 15c postpaid. In quantities, $5.50 per 100.

“The Church and the Depression,” by Rev. James M. Gillis, C. S. P., 80
pages and cover. Single copy, 20c postpaid. In quantities, $9.00 per 100.

“The Fullness of Christ,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen, 176
pages and cover. Single copy, 60c postpaid. In quantities, $16.50 per 100.

“The Church and Modern Thought,” By Rev. James M. Gillis, C.S.P.,
80 pages and cover. Single copy, 20c postpaid. In quantities*, $9.00 per 100.

“Misunderstood Truths,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Duane G. Hunt, 48 pages
and cover. Single copy, 15c postpaid. In quantities, $5.50 per 100.

“The Judgment of God and The Sense of Duty,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr.
William J. Kerby, 16 pages and cover. Single copy, 10c postpaid. In
quantities, $4.00 per 100.

“Christian Education,” by Rev. James A. Reeves, M. A., S. T. D., LL.
D., 32 pages and cover. Single copy, 10c postpaid. In quantities, $5.00
per 100.

“What Civilization Owes to the Church,” by Rt. Rev. William Quinn,
64 pages and cover. Single copy, 15c postpaid. In quantities, $6.00 per 100.



“If Not Christianity: What?” by Rev. James M. Gillis, C.S.P., 96
pages' and cover. Single copy, 25c postpaid. In quantities, $10.00 per 100.

“The Prodigal World,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen, 140 pages
and cover. Single copy, 50c postpaid. In quantities, $16.00 per 100.

“The Coin of Our Tribute,” by Very Rev. Thomas F. Conlon, O. P-.
40 pages and cover. Single copy, 15c postpaid. In quantities, $5.50 per 100

“Pope Pius XI,” by His Eminence Patrick Cardinal Hayes. An ad-
dress in honor of the 79th birthday of His Holiness. 16 pages and beautiful
4-color cover Single copy, 15c postpaid. In quantities, $6.25 per 100.

“Misunderstanding the Church,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Duane G. Hunt,
48 pages and cover, 15c postpaid. In quantities, $5.50 per 100.

“The Poetry of Duty,” by Rev. Alfred Duffy, C. P., 48 pages and cover.
Single copy, 15c postpaid. In quantities, $5.50 per 100.

“Characteristic Christian Ideals,” by Rev. Bonaventure McIntyre, O.
F. M., 32 pages and cover. Single copy, 10c postpaid. In quantities $5.00
per 100.

“The Catholic Church and Youth,” by Rev. John F. O’Hara, C. S. C.,
48 pages and cover. Single Copy. 15c postpaid. In quantities, $5.50 per 100.

“The Spirit of the Missions,” by Rev. Thomas J. McDonnell, 32 pages
and cover. Single copy, 10c postpaid. In quantities, $5.00 per 100.

“The Life of the Soul,” by Rev. James M. Gillis, C. S. P., 96 pages
and cover. Single copy, 25c postpaid. In quantities', $10.00 per 100.

“Freedom and Democracy,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen, 56
pages and cover. Single copy, 15c postpaid. In quantities, $6.00 per 100.

“Our Wounded World,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen, 112 pages
and cover. Single copy, 30c postpaid. In quantities, $11.50 per 100.

“The Banquet of Triumph,” by Rev. James J. McLarney, O. P., 32
pages and cover. Single copy, 10c postpaid. In quantities’, $5.00 per 100.

“Society and the Social Encyclicals—America’s Road Out,” by Rev.
R. A. McGowan, 32 pages and cover. Single copy, 10c postpaid. In
quantities, $5.00 per 100.

“Pius XI, Father and Teacher of the Nations” (On His Eightieth
Birthday) by His Excellency, Most Reverend Amleto Giovanni Cicognani,
16 pages and cover. Single copy, 10c postpaid. In quantities, $3.00 per 100.

“The Eastern Catholic Church,” by Rev. John Kallok, 48 pages and
cover. Single copy, 15c postpaid. In quantities, $5.50 per 100.

“Joy In Religion,” by Rev. John B. Delaunay, C. S. O., 40 pages and
cover. Single copy, 15c postpaid. In quantities, $5.50 per 100.

“The ‘Lost’ Radiance of the Religion of Jesus,” by Rev. Thomas A.
Carney, 40 pages’ and cover. Single copy, 15c postpaid. In quantities.
$5.50 per 100.

“Some Spiritual Problems of College Students” by Rev. Maurice S.
Sheehy, Ph. D., 40 pages' and cover. Single copy, 15c postpaid. In quanti-
ties, $5.50 per 100.

“God and Governments,” by Rev. Wilfrid Parsons, S. J., 48 pages
and cover. Single copy, 15c postpaid. In quantities, $5.50 per 100.

Complete lot of 67 pamphlets to one address for $8.75 postpaid

Address: OUR SUNDAY VISITOR, Huntington, Indiana