The open door : how converts are made I fllT f1f3 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 https://archive.org/details/opendoorhowconveOOunse THE OPEN DOOR HOW CONVERTS ARE MADE OUR SUNDAY VISITOR HUNTINGTON • INDIANA 19 5 3 U*S*A 3 £> . * £ 2 O w !— I fa « Q 02 sz; w o fa H p<4 o c/3 § > w p< !* p< Q Q fa H-l o £ fa £ M O w > H < H 02 PQ O fa P H c ffi fa PH OetefcJBfog fa £ {JH £ H fa O fa fa o fa o w C/2 HH PQ The leading chapter of this book is reprinted from The Catholic Digest, and is a report on a nation-wide sur- vey conducted by that publication. "The Open Door" stories are also re- prints in large part from the Digest. Other chapters by Father O'Brien are re-prints from his popular column syndicated by the NCWC news service. Publication of the book is a co- operative venture of Our Sunday Vis- itor and The Catholic Digest. WHO Makes Converts? A Report on a National Survey JOHN A. O BRIEN i ‘ 1 OE,” I asked, “how many * have you started towards conversion?” “None,” he replied, “I thought lay people had no business in that field; that it was up to the clergy and only them.” “Does this mean then, Joe,” I continued, “that you, an insur- ance salesman, never once tried to interest a non-Catholic friend in your religion, never tried to recruit a prospect for an inquiry class, never invited a friend to Mass, or any of the other de- votions?” “Yes,” he confessed, “I’ve nev- er so much as lifted a finger to win a convert to the Catholic Faith. I didn’t think laymen were supposed to butt into the business of the priests.” This conversation occurred at a meeting in the school auditori- um of St. Joseph’s Parish, Mish- awaka, Indiana. At my sugges- tion the pastor, Father Curt A. Suelzer, had invited about 35 “live-wire” men and women to help us in recruiting attendance at an Inquiry Forum which we were establishing there for the first time. Before giving them some training in the technique of ap- proaching churchless people and interesting them in the in- vestigation of the claims of the Catholic Church, we thought it would be interesting to see how many had ever tried it on their own. Joe Campbell’s reaction was typical of those of most of the others present. Is it typical of the attitude of the great majority of Catholic men and women? A religious survey recently conducted by The Catholic Digest provides the answer. To a cross section of people representing 75.9 million people in the U. S. who go to some church, two questions were asked: 1. “Have you ever tried to get anyone to join your religious group?” 2. “Did you ever succeed in getting anyone to join?” The replies of the Catholics, representing 20.6 millions, showed that 72% had never 4 THE OPEN DOOR PROTESTANTS ARE MORE THAN TWICE AS ACTIVE IN WINNING CONVERTS AS CATHOLICS TRIED TO WIN A CONVERT SUCCEEDED CHART III even tried to get anyone to join the Church. Of the 28% who tried, 17% succeeded, 9% did not succeed, and 2% did not know whether they had been successful or not. In contrast to that feeble effort, the replies of all the Protestants, represent- ing 53.3 millions, showed that 59% had definitely tried. Of these, 43% succeeded, 10% did not succeed and 6% did not know whether their efforts had proved successful or not. This brings into clear relief several points worth noting: 1. The overwhelming majority (72%) of Catholic lay men and women have never so much as lifted a finger to win a convert for Christ. 2. Protestants are more than twice as zealous as Catholics in seeking to win con- verts, 59% against 28%. 3. Catholics need to learn effective techniques of winning converts, as only 17% of the 28% who tried, were successful, as com- Table I—Showing the Percentage of Church Members Who Promote Their Faith Millions of Tried to Don’t Never Tried to People This Get Someone Did Not Know if Get Anyone Represents to Join Succeeded Succeed Succeeded to. Join % % % % % Catholics 20.6 28 17 9 2 72 Protestant total .... 53.3 59 43 10 6 41 Baptists 13.9 67 50 10 7 33 Methodists 12.7 56 39 8 9 44 Lutherans 6.1 49 28 19 2 51 Presbyterians 5.7 59 52 5 2 41 Episcopalians .... 2.3 53 45 6 2 47 Congrega- tionalists 1.0 32 19 10 3 68 Other Protestant Denominations 11.6 61 44 11 6 39 Jewish 1.8 27 24 3 0 73 THE OPEN DOOR 5 MEMBERS OF VARIOUS FAITHS WHO TRIED TO WIN CONVERTS pared with the 43% successful ones among the 59 % Protest- ants who tried. 4. The chief dif- ference between the two groups in convert-making effectiveness, however, is that the percentage of Protestants who try to win converts is more than twice as large as the percentage of Cath- olics. This is brought out vividly in Chart I. A glance at Table I shows that among the Protestant de- nominations the Baptists are most active in seeking new members, 67% trying and 50% succeeding. A group comprising the smaller denominations, in- cluding the Pentecostals, ranked second, with 61% making the effort and 44% succeeding. The Presbyterians, with 59% trying and 52% succeeding, ranked third. The ratings are shown in Chart II. On the whole, the denomina- tions with the highest percent- ages of members trying to win adherents experienced the larg- est relative gains, as shown in Chart III. IPs a good illustra- tion of the principle stressed by all schools of salesmanship: other things being equal, the salesman who knocks at the most doors makes the most sales. Catholics rank the lowest in sales for the simple reason that they knock at the fewest doors. Investigating the convert making activities of men and women of all faiths, the Digest survey found, as was to be ex- pected, that the women are more zealous: 52% of the wo- men endeavored to win Church members and 37% succeeded, as compared with 47% and 34% for the men. The survey sought to ascer- tain the relative activity of the various age groups in winning members for their respective 6 THE OPEN DOOR MEMBERS OF VARIOUS FAITHS WHO SUCCEEDED IN WINNING CONVERTS CATHOLICS NEED TO LEARN CONVERT- MAKING TECHNIQUES! Presbyterian 52% Baptist 50% Episcopal 45% Other Smaller Protestant Denominations 44% Methodist 39% Lutheran 28% 1 Congregational 19% Catholic 17% CHART III faiths. The findings show that, on the whole, as the ages of Church members increase their efforts and their success in winning adherents likewise in- crease. Thus the two lowest age groups, 18 to 24 and 25 to 34, both reported 47% trying and 31% succeeding, as compared with 59% trying and 41% suc- ceeding for the oldest age group, 65 and over. How do the convert winning activities of whites compare with those of Negroes? The whites come off a poor second. The survey found that 66% of the Negroes tried to win con- verts, and 55% succeeded, as compared with 49% and 34% for the whites. What educational level showed the greatest zeal? The group which had from one to three years of college education reported the highest percentage of its members seeking to win Church members, 65% trying and 39% succeeding as com- pared with 48% and 34% for the one-to-three-years high school group. In general, effi- ciency in winning adherents in- creased as the cultural level ad- vanced, the college graduate group reporting the highest of all: 41%. Does occupation affect the in- terest of people in winning church members? The survey investigated the activities of members in the professional class, proprietors or managers, white-collar workers, service workers, manual laborers, and farmers. Of all these the farm- ers have by far the best record. Not less than 63% of them tried to win adherents and 43% suc- ceeded. The professional group ranked second, with 53% try- ing and 38% succeeding. The THE OPEN DOOR 7 manual laborers came last, with but 46% trying and only 31% proving successful. Does the amount of income affect the missionary activities of Church members? The sur- vey found that those in the up- per income bracket ranked first, with 55% trying to win ad- herents and 41% succeeding. There was little difference be- tween the middle income group and the lower income bracket, 48% and 34% for the former as compared with 49% and 35% for the latter. Does the size of the com- munity tend to affect the mis- sionary activities of Church peo- ple? The survey investigated the activities of residents of six different types of communities: cities over a million, 100,000 to 1 million, 25,000 to 100,000, 10,- 000 to 25,000, under 10,000, and rural districts. People living in the country showed by far the greatest missionary zeal. Not less than 58% tried to win new members for their Church and 39% succeeded. Those living in communities of under 10,000 ranked second, with 53% trying and 39% suc- ceeding. Curiously enough, res- idents of cities 25,000 to 100,000 had the poorest record, with but 40% trying and only 26% suc- ceeding. The survey shows that, on the whole, religion thrives best in the country and in the smaller towns and villages. Does geographical location tend to affect the religious mores of people? The survey in- vestigated the activities of peo- ple in nine different sections. Residents of the South Atlantic section,* the so-called Bible belt, have by far the best record. Not less than 64% endeavored to win members for their Church, and 44% succeeded. Those in the West South Cen- tral sectionf ranked second, with 60% trying and 45% suc- ceeding. The poorest showing was made by the residents of New England with but 23% making any effort to recruit Church members and but 20% succeeding. Thus it is seen that the survey investigated the recruiting ac- tivities of Church members from nine different angles: denomi- national membership, sex, age, race, education, occupation, in- come level, size of community and geographical region. While *Delaware, Maryland, District of Colum- bia, Virginia, W. Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. fArkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas. 8 THE OPEN DOOR the finding in each of these fields is of interest, the one of paramount importance is the discovery that, of all the reli- gious groups in the U. S., Cath- olics show the least interest and make the feeblest effort in seek- ing to recruit new members for their Faith. The attitude of Joseph Camp- bell, that winning converts is the business of the clergy and that the laity should keep their noses out of it, is typical of the overwhelming majority of Cath- olic laymen. The result is that the Church is gaining but 120,- 000 converts a year when it should be winning ten times that many. The greatest loss which the Church in America is suffering is that which results from the failure to harness the loyalty, devotion, and potential mission- ary zeal of its lay members. Here is a great spiritual Niagara whose boundless energy could be harnessed to the urgent job of bringing the light of Christ’s teachings to the millions of churchless homes in America. It is as obvious as the nose on one’s face that a small band of 45,000 priests cannot personally reach 80 million churchless peo- ple. It is bad enough that we are tapping—chiefly because we have made no systematic effort —but the tiniest bit of the zeal and energy of our numerous nuns and Brothers in the Christ- like apostolate of winning souls. It becomes, however, nothing short of sheer tragedy, somber and unrelieved, when we make no organized effort to enlist the millions of our laity in the divinely appointed duty of sharing the precious treasure of their holy Christian faith with those who have it not. It is only through their consecrat- ed zeal that we can fill the spiritual void in the lives of eighty millions of our country- men. Why do so few of our laity, as loyal and devoted as any in the world, bother their heads about convert work? Because they are largely unaware of such a duty. Engrossed in the pressing work of building churches, schools, convents and rectories to keep up with ex- panding flocks, the clergy have failed to make this duty clear to them. The words of Christ, “Go, teach ye all nations,” were ad- dressed not only to the Apostles but to all His disciples and fol- THE OPEN DOOR 9 lowers. The early Christians took this obligation seriously, and in a few centuries won the pagan Greek and Roman em- pires for Christ. Pope Pius XI summoned the laity to co-partnership with the clergy. “We grieve,” he said, “that the clergy is quite insuf- ficient to cope with the needs of our times. Hence it is neces- sary that all men be apostles; it is necessary that the Catholic laity do not stand idle, but be united, and take their share in the holy warfare of winning the world for Christ.” At a congress in Rome, Pope Pius XII declared, in substance, “The time has come when the laity must take their place by the side of their consecrated leaders in the urgent task of bringing the teachings of Christ to those who know Him not. This is the most urgent task facing our laity and the form of Catholic Action closest to the heart of Christ.” In another pronouncement, His Holiness again declared, “Let priests preach from pul- pits, in the streets and squares. Alongside the priests let the people, who have learned to penetrate minds and hearts with their words and love, also speak.” Stressing the duty of the laity to take an active part in the convert apostolate, Archbishop Cushing declares, “The layman can and should and must share in the great work of gathering in the white harvest of souls, and often enough in the very planting of the first seeds. In- deed, the laity are ideally situ- ated to recruit prospects for in- struction. The convert move- ment will make notable progress only when every Catholic throws himself with zeal and determination into the task of winning each year at least one soul for Christ.” To make this duty clear to our laity from their childhood it would seem advisable to in- sert in the next edition of the Catechism the following ques- tion and ansfwer, “Is it a duty on the part of every person to win souls for Christ?” “Yes, every Catholic is under a divine ob- ligation to win souls for Christ by recruiting persons for in- struction and, when necessary, by assisting in their instruc- tion.” In addition to making the ob- ligation clear to the laity, it is 10 THE OPEN DOOR necessary to provide them with the knowledge of suitable tech- niques. With this end in view, the following books outlining methods developed by fifty of the most successful convert makers have been recently pub- lished: Winning Converts , (P. J. Kenedy, New York, 248 pp. $3.00), Sharing the Faith, (Our Sunday Visitor, Huntington, Ind, 246 pp. $1.00), The White Harvest , (Newman, Westmin- ster, Md.). To show what attracts non- Catholics to the Church and the credentials which lead them to embrace the Faith, the follow- ing books of convert stories have been recently published: The Road to Damascus and Where I Found Christ (both by Doubleday, Garden City, N.Y. each $2.50) feature noted writ- ers and scholars; Paths to Christ (Our Sunday Visitor, Hunting- ton, Ind. 256 pp. $1.50) features the so-called "little fry,” the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker; The Way to Emmaus (Our Sunday Visitor, Huntington, Ind. 368 pp. $2.50), features chiefly noted ministers, theologians and those who had delved deeply into other faiths before entering the Church. Catholics will learn how to in- struct non-Catholics, right in their own homes if necessary, by reading the following books which have helped to lead thou- sands into the fold: Father Smith Instructs Jackson , (Cloth, $1.75 paper-bound, $1.00) Whafs the Truth about Cath- olics P (Cloth, $2.50, Quiz Edi- tion, paper-bound, $1.50, paper- bound, $1.25), The Faith of Mil- lions , (Cloth, $2.50, paper- bound, $1.50) all published by Our Sunday Visitor, Hunting- ton, Ind. For persons with a college education or its equival- ent, who need to be instructed on the philosophical truths un- derlying the Christian religion, Truths Men Live By , (Our Sun- day Visitor, Huntington, Ind. $3.25) will provide abundant suitable material drawn from both science and philosophy. The Catholic Digest Reader will provide any person with a good working knowledge of the Church and the activities of the Church, especially in the U. S. (500 pp. $3.95. Write to Cath- olic Digest, 41 E. 8th St., St. Paul 2, Minn.). Millions of Catholics must undertake this work if the eighty millions of churchless people are to be won for Christ. The careful reading of these THE OPEN DOOR 11 books and the loan of them to non-Catholic inquirers will en- able all Catholics to win one or more converts a year. They will be further helped by the reading of the stories, You Can Win Converts, syndicated week- ly by the N.C.W.C. News Ser- vice to more than sixty Catholic newspapers. The stories show how lay men and women win from three to fifty and more converts. By enlisting the laity in a diocesan-wide convert cam- paign Bishop Buddy of San Di- ego and his priests were able to win more than a thousand con- verts and to reclaim nearly five thousand fallen-aways. The chart, embodying the findings of the Catholic Digest survey, showing the small per- centage of Catholics who make any effort to win converts, should be placed in the class- room of every grade school, high school, college, and sem- inary. It should be hung in the vestibule of every church and placed in every home. It should be published in every Catholic paper and periodical. Its mean- ing should be proclaimed from every pulpit. Then our laity would realize that the greatest weakness of the Church in America is their failure to participate actively in bringing the saving truths of Christ to the millions who know Him not. With laymen recruit- ing members for the Inquiry Class held every three months in every parish we shall win more than a million converts a year. Translate into action your present good intention by kneeling before a crucifix and reciting the following pledge: “Dear Jesus, my crucified Lord and Saviour, I shall try earnestly and zealously to win for You the precious souls for whom You died by living a life of virtue and holiness, by set- ting an example of charity to- ward all men, and by bringing non-Catholics to Mass, by loan- ing them Catholic literature, by explaining to them points of doctrine, and by bringing them to a priest for further instruc- tion. So help me, God!” Lay Convert Makers T° help you carry out your pledge to win at least one convert each year, I shall nar- rate a number of brief stories showing how various lay men and women, like yourself, man- aged to interest churchless in- dividuals in the Catholic relig- ion and subsequently won them for Christ. The way is long by precept, runs an old Latin say- ing, but short by example. Better than a volume of ab- stract theory as to how to win converts is a concrete example. Study how these individuals proceeded and you will learn the technique which gets re- sults. You will note that prayer, kindness, tact and zeal are the elements running through the general pattern. The more con- spicuous those elements are, the more fruitful are the efforts of the convert maker. The Force of Example “MOTHER, we must pray to our Lady of Fatima for the conversion of Russia!” These were the words which John Lynch, a youngster in the fourth grade, called out from the doorway when he came rushing home from Christ the King School in Milwaukee. Then sadly, his enthusiasm deflat- ed, he added, “But you can’t under- stand. You don’t know anything about our Lady.” A few days later when Mrs. Lynch was driving to the coun- try, where her three children were to assist at Mass, Patricia remarked, “Mother, you had better remain seated during the Mass, as you don’t understand.” “Thus did I notice,” observed Mrs. Lynch, “what every non- Catholic wife and mother in a mixed marriage must sooner or later discover, that lack of unity in relig- ious faith inevit- THE OPEN DOOR 13 ably reflects itself in an inability to accompany husband and children into that spiritual do- main where they’re at home with God. “I felt that I could go with them to the door but couldn’t enter. I was a stranger to them in the very domain where most of all I wanted to be one with them.” Ruth Meyer was a devout Lu- theran when she fell in love with William Lynch, a staunch and devoted Catholic. Realiz- ing that they could never see eye to eye with each other in the important matter of relig- ious faith, they separated. This happened not once but several times, until finally they could endure the estrangement no longer. Ruth took the required six instructions and, with many misgivings on the part of her devout Lutheran parents, they were married by a priest. But this was only after her father had exacted from Bill the pro- mise that he would never ask Ruth to embrace the Catholic Faith. “Carefully and prayerfully,” reports Ruth, “I watched unfold before my eyes the drama of life in a family which, except for wife and mother, was thor- oughly Catholic. I taught the children their catechism, heard them recite their prayers. I helped prepare them for their First Holy Communion, for Confirmation and for taking part in religious processions. “In return they loved me and told me in their beautiful child- ish way about their beliefs. They acted out in their day-to- day lives the externals of the Church which were so different from those in which I had been reared.” During these years, sixteen in all, Ruth attended the Lutheran Church on Sundays with her parents while her husband and children went to Mass at the Church of Christ the King. There, unbeknown to their mother, they prayed with all their hearts that God would give her the precious gift of the Faith. At every Communion they received, they breathed the same prayer. Finally their prayers and their example bore fruit. God’s grace was working within her. The significance of the tremendous words of Christ to Peter, “Thou art Peter and upon this rock I 14 THE OPEN DOOR will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it,” broke through the stubborn wall of her resistance. Here was the telltale evidence of the divine foundation of the Catholic Church—fifteen centur- ies before Lutheranism had seen the light of day. No longer could she fight against God, Scripture, reason, and the pray- ers of her husband and children. After attending the Inquiry Class at the Gesu she was re- ceived into the Church and with tears of joy knelt by the side of her husband and two children at the Communion rail. Her oldest son, an acolyte, held the paten as she received her Euch- aristic Lord. “Could you single out, Ruth,” I asked, “any one factor which was of especial helpfulness in making your decision?” “Yes,” she replied. “Powerful beyond all words was the won- derful example my husband gave over the years. His kind- ness, thoughtfulness and help- fulness, his deep love and de- votion for his family, his com- plete interest in us and in our home constituted, under God, the paramount influence which helped me find my way into Christ's true Church. Bill is a living example of the truth, beauty, goodness and love of the Catholic Faith. If all Cath- olics were like him the whole world would soon be Catholic.” By living his Faith William Lynch won four converts: his wife and his three children. For if he had been a weak and vacil- lating Catholic all four would have gone the other way. “A Catholic life, sincerely lived,” remarked Ruth, “is the best means of propagating the faith; and it is a means within the power of the least among us.” In Paths to Christ, Our Sun- day Visitor ($1.50), Ruth tells the entire moving story of her conversion, which no one can read without finding a lump form in his throat and a tear in his eye. She closes her story with this beautiful prayer: “Dear Lord, do not let the hu- man in me spoil anything You give me to do. Push me back when I would go wrong, and make me go forward when I am afraid to do right. Be with me in my dealings with each soul with whom I come in contact, and grant that each may know, love and serve You better for having passed by me.” ^^INNING converts is some- thing to which most lay Catholics turn their hand rarely, if at all. But for James L. Mc- Grory, the gracious charge d’af- fairs of the pamphlet room at St. John’s Church, Thirteenth and Chestnut Streets, Philadel- phia, it is a full time job. How well he does it, may be judged from the fact that he has led more than 250 converts into the fold. Though he would dis- claim the title, he is probably the champion lay convert maker of Pennsylvania. Gray haired, kindly, eager to help, Mr. Mc- Grory has been in charge of the pamphlet room since it was founded in 1936. Indeed he has lifted it to the status of a Cath- olic Information Center and is now affectionately called “Mr. St. Johns.” “I’ve heard a great deal, Mr. McGrory,” I said, “about your work in leading so many people into the Church. The lay Cath- olics of this country would like to know how you manage to in- terest so many in the Faith.” “It’s a simple method,” he re- plied, “and it could be used ev- erywhere and by everyone. Hundreds of thousands of out- siders drop into Catholic churches. Some come to witness the Mass and other devotions. Others just step in out of curi- osity to see what a Catholic church looks like on the inside. “Here is our opportunity. And at St. John s we try to make the most of it. Being located in the downtown district, we probably have more visitors than most churches. So instead of the sim- ple pamphlet rack holding a couple dozen titles, which you can find in the vestibule of some churches, we have this entire large room devoted to pamphlet display.” “How many pamphlets do you have?” I ventured. “We stock them by the tens of thousands and have more than 2,000 catalogued. The first year 16 THE OPEN DOOR we sold 40,000 pamphlets and each year the sales increased. Last year, 1952, we passed the 300,000 mark. Altogether we’ve distributed over 3,000,000! That’s probably a record for a parish church. "Since we have carefully cat- alogued the topics treated, we are able to answer almost any question by handing the person a pamphlet. Then when he comes back with another ques- tion we locate another suitable pamphlet for him. The first thing you know, his misconcep- tions are corrected, his prejudic- es removed and he’s ripe for in- struction.” "How,” I inquired, "do you make that transition from the pamphlet to the course of in- structions?” "I simply say to them: "Here, you’ve been browsing long enough among these pamphlets, pecking here and pecking there. Why not go about this in a sys- tematic way? Why not start at the beginning and learn about the divine foundation of the Church and her authority to teach all mankind all the truths which Christ brought into this world? Then you’ll get some- where.’ "Practically all agree that such is the best and most prof- itable way to proceed. Then I take them to the Inquiry Class conducted by Father Laurence F. Kelly and Father John J. Lynch every Tuesday and Fri- day evening. If they’re from out of town or can’t come, we arrange for their instruction by mail.” "How many,” I asked, "are re- ceived each year?” "More than a hundred. I’ve been a sponsor for Jewish con- verts, Negro converts, Oriental converts and converts from all walks of life. They’re full of joy and gratitude. "T should have been a Cath- olic years ago,’ many say. T’m just beginning to live,’ remark others. "How wonderful to re- ceive our Blessed Lord each day,’ exclaim others. "We use our pamphlet room to recruit members for the In- quiry Class. A pamphlet will be read by a person who wants to get the answer in a jiffy. It’s a wonderful means of winning converts. Our pastor, Monsig- nor J. Leo Boyle, asks every par- ishioner to read and distribute one pamphlet each week and es- pecially during Lent. THE OPEN DOOR 17 “In a nutshell, my method of winning converts is to put a pamphlet in the hands of as many people as possible and then follow through by bring- ing them to an Inquiry Class. The two go together, like a hand fitting into a glove. Hun- dreds of pamphlets, properly displayed in the church vesti- bule, will bring scores of truth seekers to an Inquiry Class. “The church without four or five well stocked pamphlet racks is missing a splendid op- portunity of winning souls. If every Catholic followed Mon- signor Boyle’s suggestion and read and distributed a pamphlet each week, we’d win more than a million converts a year.” Yes, Mr. McGrory, you, Mon- signor Boyle and the other grand priests at St. John’s are right. You’re setting an example for all of us. Pray that soon we all may be following your ex- ample, for it’s the most eloquent and convincing demonstration in America of the mighty power of the little pamphlet to win converts for Christ. Teacher Taught ^^HEN the town’s old high school burned down one summer, Jane began to attend the Catholic academy in a near-by town. She was impressed with the Church, and in due time asked for Baptism. Next year, her sis- ter Joan followed her to the new school with the firm attitude that “they won’t rope me in.” She was a good student but showed no interest in religion. During the summer months after she had graduat- ed, Jane formed a catechism class to assist the mission- ary priest who came to her home town twice a month. In the fall, she went away to nurses’ training school; and Joan returned to the Academy alone. When Sister asked her what had happened to Jane’s class, Joan said, “I had to take it. There was no one else.” Teaching catechism convinced her. Before the year was out she asked for Baptism. Soon afterwards her entire family joined her. —S.M.L. jY friend and I were students at a Jesuit university in 1939. He fell “madly in love” with a girl at the school. She was not a Catholic girl, and she tended to be a bit on the wild side, to put it mildly. I told my buddy that she was just after a good time, and if he kept going with her it might cost him his education. (We were both working our way.) But he would have none of it—said he was going to marry the gal—and he a very grown-up 18. I bet him ten bucks I could take her away from him, merely because I could spend a little more money. He bet. Then he told her about it. They decided to teach me a lesson. She would go with me, kid me along, then drop me on my head. Came the big day. We went to a little night club near by. I guess I didn’t cover my disapproval very well. She began to laugh at my ethics, morals, and faith. I fought back. In four hours, we had two glasses of wine, one dance, and about 60 separate arguments. Suddenly I found that she wasn’t ridiculing; she was debating—and well, too. We went out together every night for the next three weeks. I discovered that she had no set of laws to follow, and that she considered authority something to be evad- ed. But when I could prove a point she would concede THE OPEN DOOR 55 it. She gradually dropped the banter and became serious. She cried a couple of times. Finally she exhausted my store of knowledge. I took her to my Jesuit faculty ad- viser. She battled with him for six months, before she conceded all and became an intelligent and brave Cath- olic. Well, my friend is happily married now, and to a good Catholic girl. But no better a Catholic than the mother of my three kids. She’s one of the best converts I know. My friend gave us the ten bucks for a wedding present in 1943. — H. C. Medalist | WAS just preparing to go to bed when I received an urgent call from the hospital. “Father, come quickly. We have an emergency case. He’s wearing a medal with the inscription, "Please send for a Catholic priest in case of accident.’ ” I was directed to the unconscious man, and adminis- tered Extreme Unction. He suddenly regained con- sciousness. I reassured him. “But, Father, I am not a Catholic. I’ve worn this medal for a long while, and always intended to become a Catholic. Please baptize me now.” I baptized him as they wheeled him toward the elevator. He died before he reached the operating room. —Charles A. Cronin. Actress “]"HE nun’s play was a simple story about a Roman ves- tal virgin who chose Christianity and death. Cast in the lead role was a young non-Catholic lady. The quiet heroism of the martyred vestal attracted her at 56 THE OPEN DOOR once. Daily rehearsals found the spell growing until she was completely enthralled. After the third curtain-call of the final performance she was opening her heart. A year later she was baptized. Vacation found her back home. Her daily-Mass-and-Communion habit at first alarmed her parents, her younger sister and brother. But within a year all five knelt together at the Communion rail. —Louis Schuster. Comic Relief 0UR children traded comic books with children of a near-by family whom I heard were anti-Catholic. Though our son said they liked them, I was afraid their parents might resent Catholic literature. I explained to their mother that perhaps we should have her approval before sending more. She surprised me with, "Oh, yes, do send all of them, I read them myself.” Later she asked questions. "Does the Catholic Church really teach so-and-so?” "Is this the way you Catholics feel about such-and-such?” When our pastor announced an in- quirers’ class she went, and was baptized recently. -Mrs. F. W. Mutual Sponsors | HAD just finished reading an interesting pamphlet about the Catholic Church, and tossed it across the table to a business acquaintance who shared the hotel room with me at a convention. As we both looked at the pamphlet, I said: "Not a bad argument, Jim.” About a year later I got a long-distance call. It was Jim, and he asked me if I would act as his sponsor at Baptism. He was becoming a Catholic on the strength of that pamphlet, and felt that I should be called in on the happy day. "But, Jim,” I said. "I’m not a Catholic.” THE OPEN DOOR 57 “What! You old son-of-a-gun. I read that out of courtesy to you.” There wasn’t much I could do about it. To return the courtesy to Jim, I read Catholic literature in earnest. Soon Jim was my sponsor. —Carl Conrad. Forced Reading ~|~HE old couple on the isolated Oklahoma farm were now really angry. It was bad enough for their niece to have become a Catholic but why should she thrust all this Catholic literature upon them? However, read- ing material was scarce and the winter evenings were long, and it was better to have Catholic papers than none at all. Dad knew how bitterly anti-Catholic mother was, so he used to amuse himself by reading aloud articles from the Catholic periodicals. He enjoyed her reactions and comments, which were sharp and bitter. The missionary Father who received them into the Church is all out for the Catholic press, and why shouldn’t he be? —Thomas Lynch , O.M.I. Slip Shows | AM a poor writer. If I had been a better writer may- be Bob would never have become a Catholic. I have written many articles and sent them to vari- ous magazines. Usually they come back accompanied by that inevitable blue rejection slip. Bob also was a writer, and often we would compare notes—and rejection slips. One day I submitted an article to the Catholic Digest , and I must admit I wasn’t too surprised when it came back about two weeks later. I didn’t think my stuff was too bad, and neither did Bob, but we just couldn’t get the editors around to our way of thinking. 58 THE OPEN DOOR There was something different about this rejection slip, however. On it were the words, "Most rejection slips are blue, which is usually the way one feels when he receives them. This one, however, is green, the sym- bol of hope and encouragement.” I thought it a novel way of being turned down, and the next time Bob came over I showed it to him. A smile crossed his face as he read. Then he turned to me. "You Catholics find hope in everything, don’t you?” he said. From that time on, his interest in our faith increased and soon he was taking instructions. Today Bob is a good Catholic, and it all started with a green rejection slip. Escort ^^HILE employed as a psychiatric aide in a veterans’ hospital, I had the task of escorting a group of patients to Mass on Sunday. It was necessary to have another employee to assist me, and whenever possible I selected a Catholic. One Sunday, unable to find a fel- low Catholic to help me, I secured the services of a man I knew was not. He sat through the entire Mass. I was rather surprised when the following Sunday he asked if he could go on the Mass detail with me. I readily assented, and for several months thereafter he assisted every Sunday. Then I had to take an extended leave of absence. When I returned I found that my helper had taken over my escort duties. And I noticed that he no longer just sat in the pew. He knelt and took part in the Mass. When I remarked on this he said, "You know, from that first Sunday I found beauty in the Mass. I have since found peace of mind.” He was taking in- structions, and was soon baptized. His might be called a conversion in line of duty. —George C. Hannifin THE OPEN DOOR Sweeney’s Icicle a Communion breakfast I attended in Tokyo a few months ago, the principal speaker, a Catholic brigadier-general, told of his conversion to the faith. It had come about, he said, through the ex- emplary courage of a young corporal with whom he had served in France during the 1st World War. “I can’t even recall his name now,” he added with feeling in his conclusion of his speech, the general was congratulated by many of his avid listeners, including a middle-aged Catholic chaplain who clasped the speaker’s hand ner- vously and affectionately as he said, "You’re sure, gen- eral, you weren’t the sergeant who stuck the big icicle down my back that cold, winter night back in 1917! Corporal Sweeney was the name!” 0N the afternoon of Dec. 7, 1943, we WAC’s arrived at Naples Italy. Our home was to be the spacious, but secluded, St. Giovanni Bosco institute. This institute was run by nuns, and had housed young women students attending the University of Naples. We were 175 girls of varied nationalities and faiths, and from all walks of life. The first few weeks were hectic—for us and the six Sisters. Since the battle front was near by, our curfew hour was 7 p.m. Consequently, we had to rely on our own resources for entertainment. During long evening voice, "but wherever he is, God bless him.” Every night, the general went on to explain, regardless of the taunts, wisecracks and objects aimed at him by his comrades, the Catholic corporal knelt down alongside his blankets to say his prayers. At the Good Conduct Ribbon 60 THE OPEN DOOR hours we tried to acquaint ourselves with the Sisters, but they avoided us. Our normal American way of living seemed to dis- turb them. We shouted very unladylike from one end of the corridor to the other; went out with GI’s, un- chaperoned; had an occasional dance in our dining room with completely strange men! We tried hard to avoid conflicts. We decided that bugle calls would not mix with ringing of the chapel bells; that we would respect their holy days and hours. Gradually, as weeks slipped by, we came to know them, and they, us. They rearranged their schedule so that the Catholic girls could attend Mass before break- fast. Sister Rita, because she alone among the six could speak English became our liaison. At first she was re- luctant to ride in the army jeep, but months later it was not unusual to see her alongside our first sergeant, jeep- ing through the Neapolitan thoroughfares with her black veil trailing in the wind. She even organized evening classes for those of us who wished to study Italian. I at- tended Sister Rita’s classes, but I became more inter- ested in the catechism text she used. Patiently, she ex- plained the multitude of questions I asked. Sister Francesca managed our laundry. Our New York girls taught her to count in Brooklynized English. When counting our laundry change, she would say, “Toity-tree cents.” Then she would laugh. Little, pink-cheeked Sister Angelina did our mend- ing. Sisters Maria, Clarina, and Josefa did our washing and ironing to perfection. Spring came, and so did the GIs with rest leaves from the front lines. Some of us fell in love, and in war- time desperation, felt that marriage could not be post- poned until eventual reunion in the U. S. Whether it was for our Catholic girls, who were married in the convent’s beautiful chapel, or for the Protestant girls, THE OPEN DOOR 61 who were married in the convent’s patio, the Sisters flut- tered about, maternally arranging every little detail. Within a year we had "Americanized” the Italian nuns, and within that small period of time, they had cap- tured our hearts. They sprinkled their conversations with Okay's, Hi's, So longs, and other minor American slang expressions, and they even developed an acute taste for army peanut butter and hot dogs! Then in November, 1944, our company received orders to move up the Italian coast to Leghorn, to join advanced headquarters. On that cold, gray morning, the six Sisters were at the gate to bid us each an indi- vidual, tear-filled farewell. The night before, I went to the Sisters’ quarters to bid them a personal good bye. For the very shy Sister Angelina, who had never been to Rome, I had a medal- lion, purchased in Rome while on leave and blessed by His Holiness. She asked me to pin it to her habit be- neath her white starched bib, and there alongside two other "medals,” an American European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign ribbon and an American Good Con- duct ribbon, I pinned the medallion. And as I kissed her on the cheek, she said in her very broken English, "Take it easy!” From Italy we went to the Philippine Islands. I never forgot, however, those informal Italian lessons with Sister Rita. Three years later I became a Catholic. Sister Rita of Naples had unknowingly planted the seed. —Dorothy Mallory. Reverse English T° a Jehovah Witness my two children and I owe a debt of gratitude. How glad I am that I didn’t close the door the day a Watchtower representative called at my home ten years ago, before I became a THE OPEN DOOR Catholic. That call and each succeeding one opened the door wider and wider to the faith she was maligning. She brought up old as well as new calumnies against the Catholic Church, but each aroused my curiosity. I sought further and learned the truth. IVe often wondered what her reaction would be if she knew the part she had unwittingly played in my con- version. Each time now a Jehovah Witness calls, I re- member the first one, and give a pamphlet to him or her. I am gratefully returning a favor. —Helene Pate. Poster Poser ~pHE Reds were in control of Barcelona, Spain, in 1937. Propaganda posters, calling for volunteers, were all over the city. One stopped me short. The background was a battle scene with mines, tanks, exploding shells, and communist soldiers, sprawled in blood, dead. Over it a mighty finger pointed at me. The inscription was: "And you , what have you done for communism?” The poster hit me hard. It moved me. I became a convinced communist. Only later I thought, "What has communism done for me?” I also remembered then the churches the com- munists had burned. At the end of the war, I became a Jesuit, and I am now at a Catholic mission in India. A few months ago, I prepared a poster for a mission academy. I found myself putting a mission setting in the background, a poor chapel, an orphanage, neophytes, and a priest with the cross of Christ. A mighty finger pointed at the passer-by. It demanded, "And you, what have you done for Christ?” I knew the onlooker would stop and think, with a compelling result, "What has Christ done for me?” —Jose X. Gracia, S.J. THE OPEN DOOR 63 Long Wait I^XRONDE was an ordinary boy; one of many who came to the missions of the Mill Hill Fathers in Uganda. He was anxious to be a Catholic. For two years, he had walked five miles for his catechism class- es. Then one day he stopped Father after class. “I shall not be coming any more” he said. He told how the people of his village had forbidden him to become a Christian. “But, Father, I shall return when I am older.” Years later, war came to Uganda, as it came to the rest of the world. From lonely villages in the African bush, men were trained as soldiers. One day, the chap- lain to the East African troops visited a desert unit. He noticed a hospital off the main road. He joked with the troops, and sought out the Catholics. In one ward, he saw the ominous screen around one of the beds. A nurse told him that the patient was dan- gerously ill. She thought he was a pagan. The chap- lain went behind the screen. He saw a poor Negro with ashen face. “Maybe he is from Uganda,” the priest thought to himself, and addressed the patient. Slowly the man opened his tired eyes. He was happy to hear his own language. After a few minutes, excitedly, painfully, he tried to pull himself up in the bed, staring at the priest. “I know you,” he said at last. “I saw you in the mission when I used to go for instruc- tions.” It was Kironde, no longer a boy. No one could frighten him now. He asked the priest to baptize him. “And every day, I said my prayers. I have never for- gotten. I always intended to return to the mission.” He started to recite the Apostles Creed. There was a tin mug by the bedside, full of water. The priest took it, and there Kironde became Joseph. -P. Begley. 64 THE OPEN DOOR Kidder Bill brother Bill married a lovely non-Catholic girl. After many months, we gave up hope for her con- version. Bill, though, had other ideas. He went to Mass regularly and he always made it a point to mention to his wife the number of nice-looking girls who also went to church. See- ing him alone, he said, they pre- sumed he was single, and a lot of them always smiled at him. That got Jean. She was taking instructions within a month. Her husband needed a chaperon for Mas Correspondence Course j MARRIED a Catholic who didn’t go to church. But whenever we discussed religion, he would insist that his was the true Church. The Catholic Church! I “knew” that “Catholics have to pay to go to confession; that they bow to idols; race through ready-made prayers.” I heard more sordid slanders. Then one Sunday I saw the Knights of Columbus ad, “You Hear Strange Things About Catholics.” I sent for the free booklet. The article about mixed marriage took my eye. The Catholics were right about it. Other things were enlightening, too. I began to wonder—may- be my husband could be right. The other booklets made sense, too. I took the K of C correspondence course on Christian Doctrine, and my husband studied also. He had never had such instruction. The Congregation of Mission Fathers (Vincentians) graded my papers and answered my many, many ques- tions. It was amazing how prejudices flew out the win- ;, and he got one. -M. C. B. THE OPEN DOOR 65 dow as soon as truth touched them. Even so, two years passed before I visited our parish priest. I half expected a bawling out, but he was kind and understanding. Soon my husband went to confession for the first time in years. Our four children and I were baptized. (I, conditionally, for I had gone through a baptismal cere- mony in my previous church.) Our civil marriage was validated in a Mass just for us and at that early morn- ing Mass I made my first Communion. To others hesi- tant about the way ahead, I can only suggest that they do as I—simply write a note to the Religious Home Study Course, 4422 Lindell Blvd., St. Louis 8, Mo. There they will get all the answers. —Mrs. F. MeA. Up The Hill MY grandfather was practicing law in a Midwestern town. His office was at the end of the main street, which ended at the foot of a hill. Near the top of the hill stood the Catholic church. Each morning, grand- father would walk to the window and look out. One morning he noticed an Irish woman walking up the hill. After that he found himself watching for her. He had an unobstructed view to the top, and each morning his eye could follow her all the way up to the Catholic church. He knew who she was; in a town that size everyone knew everyone else. She was a widow who supported her children by doing housework. Several months passed; winter came, and one cold, icy morning my grandfather arrived at his office after having battled his way over the glassy streets. As he always did, he moved to the window to look out. He mentally bet with himself that the little Irish widow would not be walking up the steep, frozen hillside to church. When he looked out, his heart rose in his mouth. As he said many times afterward, "Tears came to my THE OPEN DOOR eyes as I watched. There was the old dear on her hands and knees crawling up that icy hill!” He didn’t work that day. He closed his office and went home. My grandmother had a helper, a young Irish girl. When the girl heard the commotion in the parlor she looked in. My grandfather boomed at her in a loud voice, “Are you Catholic?” She was so frighten- ed at the unexpected question and the disruption of the usually smooth-running house that all she could do was nod. “Do you have any books about it?” Again she nodded. My grandfather continued, “Please go get them. I want to see what it is in that Church that would make a woman crawl up a hill on her hands and knees to get The rest of the story is simple. From the example of that little Irish woman, our whole family was con- verted. And three generations later there are five Cath- Catholic church it never crossed my mind that the location might have drawbacks. At 7:30 on my first morning I was awakened by shuffling feet. I peered out the window and saw a group of children, shepherded by nuns, on their way to Mass. Every morning that week the same “nuisance” took place. On Sunday the hubbub was greater, and, in ad- dition, it started at six and lasted till noon. Things had come to a pretty pass when a white, native-born Protestant couldn’t enjoy an extra 40 winks on a Sunday morning. I could lie in bed as long as I wished but I definitely could not enjoy it. I kept think- ing of all those people going to church—going to church —going to church! And in the end it wore me down. to it.” olic homes. —Mart/ Jane Darrow. Shuffle And New Deal I took a furnished room a few doors from a THE OPEN DOOR 67 I figured that in a throng that size one non-Catholic might escape detection. I played my hunch and it worked. I prided myself on kneeling, sitting, and standing at just the right times. Sometimes today, I hear converts boasting that Bishop Sheen or Father So-and-So led them to the faith. Few can make the boast I can. I was driven there by 350 parochial-school pupils shuffling their way to daily Mass. Thanks, kids!—Mrs. Lygia Erdland Meter. Collector were in Los Angeles, looking for a suit for my son. I was wearing a pair of sapphire earrings. I noticed the suit salesman looking at them. Finally he said, “Your earrings are sapphires, are they not? Let me show you some lovely ones.” He took from his pocket a white tissue-paper package, opened it, and displayed a cross of fine gold filigree set in sapphires. It was exquisite. “Collecting crosses,” he said, “is my hobby. I have more than 300. The antique dealers and second-hand men, who know me, always let me know when a cross of any interest is brought to them. On my free days I spend my time arranging my collection. I have them all cataloged. “I started my collection when my sister's friend died and left a beautiful crucifix to my sister. My sister gave it to me. That was the beginning. Every spare penny since has been put away to buy crosses. I don't buy just crucifixes, but any cross that is lovely and has a history. One day I bought a cross with a picture of a saint on one side. I can’t catalog this, I thought, until I find out something about the saint. I went to the library and got a book that gave the life of the saint. It interested me greatly. Then one day I found a rosary with an unusual crucifix. I knew that Catholics had their rosaries bless- ed, and I wondered if this were blessed. The next morn- 68 THE OPEN DOOR ing I passed a Catholic Church. I walked up the steps of the rectory and asked a young priest if he would bless my rosary. He invited me in, and I watched him closely. We talked, became friends. One day I asked about instructions. It was on my 63rd birthday that I received my first Holy Communion.” —Blanche Granger. Robber’s Reward WHENI was a boy, my mother used to take me with her when she went out to do house work. I remem- ber one trip when, as my mother was shaking out the bedding, I spied a purple rosary. The gold cross glit- tered. As much from curiosity as anything else, I sneak- ed it into my pocket. At home in bed, I examined my prize. It was then that I noticed the tiny Figure hanging in agony on the cross. I knew little about religion then, but I did know that the figure represented our Lord, I hid the rosary. But I did not sleep that night. I could not get my mind off the crucified Christ. I pleaded sick the next day, but my mother insisted I go with her. Evidently, no one at the house missed the rosary, but I watched for the chance to put it back under the bedroom pillow. Still curious, I looked over the room. On a table near the bed was a booklet on devo- tions to the Blessed Virgin, including the Rosary. From then on, I was both curious and concerned. Without telling my mother, I went back to the house some time later and confessed to the theft of the rosary. I also said I would like to know more about it and Cath- olic doctrine. Today both my mother and I are Catholics, all be- cause I once stole a rosary. —Leon Williams. THE OPEN DOOR Turnabout WHEN the nazis and the Soviets occupied Poland in 1939, the pastor in a small town in the Russian zone was arrested on fictitious charges by order of the communist major. The clergyman was con- demned to hard labor, without any trial, and was deported instantly. In 1941 he was liber- ated by the German forces. The Red officer responsible for the condemnation was seized, but escaped. Not far from Hungary, his des- tination, his pursuers forced him to stay in the woods for weeks. Food was scarce, and, completely exhausted, he was waiting for death when some Polish men found him. They took him to a lone inn near by. Recognizing the former pastor among the strangers, he expected no good. But he was wrong. The clergyman helped him hide from the nazis until 1944. The communist, overcome by such Christian treatment, became a Catholic. In 1946 he fled to the western democratic world. —P. Hebei. Sticker For A Cop 0UR little niece put it there. Since my wife and I were leaving on a second honeymoon, we were too excit- ed to pay any attention. Not until we got to St. Louis did we note the sticker on the windshield. A traffic policeman pointed at it when we returned to the car after we ’had overparked. “I’ve been waiting here,” he said. “I owe you folks a ticket. But what I want to know first is what’s this sticker you’ve got on the windshield.” My wife glanced at it. It said, “Will you say daily, ‘Blessed be the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and ask your 70 THE OPEN DOOR friends to do likewise/ ” My wife told the officer about our Lady of Fatima, her promises for world peace, and the conversion of Russia. The policeman rubbed his chin. “Well, I never heard that one before,” he said. “If you’re really interested, any Catholic priest in St. Louis can tell you more,” said my wife. The officer said nothing. He asked for our registra- tion card, made a note. “In St. Louis,” he said, “we have no special laws for visitors. You ought to have a ticket. But let it go this time.” Several months later we got a letter. “Instead of sticking you with a ticket,” it said, “you stuck me with that sticker. I’m taking instructions. Could you be my sponsors for my baptism on Aug. 21, the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary? And can you get me a few hundred of those stickers?” —Henry S. Banach . Ripping Wrapper gACK in 1870 there were no Catholics in Newton Grove, N.C. One day Dr. John C. Monk, the resident physician, received a package of books wrapped in a copy of the New York Herald in which there happened to be a sermon on The Unity of the True Faith. Dr. Monk read, became interested, then addressed a letter to “Any Catholic priest or bishop in Wilmington, N.C.” Results came by way of a letter from Bishop Gibbons, later Cardinal Gibbons of Baltimore. After that things began to happen. Not only did Dr. Monk and his entire family become Catholics, but by 1897 there were 300 Catholics at Newton Grove, which had not a single Catholic 27 years before. —Father Lahey in the Ave Maria (14 June ’52). THE OPEN DOOR 71 Elevator Protestants do not understand the Mass. But I can thank a Chicago minister for my introduction to it. I had gone there for the Easter week end. In the telephone directory I located the 1st Methodist church, near my hotel. But at the address I found only a busi- ness section. Then I noticed an unusually large crowd passing into the arcade. I joined it, just to see where everyone was going. I was swept into an elevator, hoist- ed a few flights, and propelled into the balcony of a great church, filled with people. I was impressed. I decided that out of war had come great good—people were returning to the things that count. The central point of a Protestant service is the ser- mon. On the ability of the minister to arouse his listen- ers depends the success of the service. The minister was a magnificent speaker, and I shall never forget his sermon. He began by asking why Catholics go to Mass. He gave a few of the answers—they go out of fear; they have to, etc. But he said none of these explains it. Catholics go because every day they have the events of Calvary reenacted upon their altars. Protestants hear too little about the crucifixion. He gave a vivid word picture of the Passion, and of the Resurrection. I was moved. I walked the lake front all day and thought of what he said. I was still thinking the next day in my Indianapolis office. I automatically picked up the phone and dialed St. Joan of Arc church. (My name is Joan). I had never spoken to a priest before. I am sure I did not call him Father. I think I called him Reverend. But I was bap- tized within six weeks. —Joan Stanley 72 THE OPEN DOOR Big Name WE rented a cottage at Lake Chargoggagogmanchaug- agogchaubunagungamaug at Webster, Mass. I never said the name right, which annoyed my Indian landlady, whose ancestors named it. We brought a radio with us so that we could listen to the evening Family Rosary broadcast. The landlady was provoked at our devotion to this program. One evening I asked, “Why don’t you learn to say the Rosary with us, Ma?” Hot Indian temper filled her charcoal eyes. “Ill learn to say your Rosary when you learn to say my lake correctly.” The next day I borrowed a library book which gave an account of the lake’s history. A few afternoons later, when Ma Wilson came over to borrow ice cubes, I sur- prised her with my knowledge of Lake Chargoggagog- manchaugagogchaubunagungamaug, and was even able to tell her the name meant “You fish on your side, I fish on my side, and nobody will fish in the middle.” “A bargain’s a bargain,” she said. “Get me one of those Catholic rosaries.” At the end of the season, Ma told us one evening, “You know, children, I’m going to miss you when you move back to the city, but next summer we’ll have a better time. I hope to be a full-blooded Catholic by then.” —Henry S. Banach. All In | WAS about ten years old when I met Father Carlyle. He was a wonderfully kind man, never too busy to talk to a small Protestant brat. I knew nothing about him beyond the fact that he seemed to be a swell guy who somehow or other had gotten mixed up with the wrong Church. Only once did he mention religion to THE OPEN DOOR 73 me and that was to tell me that some day I would be a Catholic. His prophecy haunted me for years, and I resisted it with increasing frenzy. With great eagerness, I looked for excuses for not becoming a Catholic. Finally I found the supreme excuse. It was a book called Thirty Years In Hell, and was written to expose the Catholic Church. The author was a former priest, and this, to me, was the last authority. I read a chapter and rushed to Father Carlyle. I wanted him to know that I was wise to it all. Father Carlyle and I reviewed the entire book. When we were finished, I burned it, and asked to take instructions. Father Carlyle could understand my initial antag- onism. He had gone through a similar experience him- self. He, the founder and first abbot of the Benedictines of Caldey, founded his monastery as an Anglican and later brought his Community into the Church. Later, the excommunicated author of Thirty Years In Hell returned to the Catholic Church and retracted everything in his book. —Vernon M. Cunningham. Fish Eater A FRIEND of mine, when he was young, worked in a leather factory. His fellow workers were not Cath- olics and when on Friday he brought his egg, fish and cheese sandwiches for lunch, he had to undergo quite a bit of razzing. They called him a fish-eater, and flaunted their meat sandwiches before his eyes. Of course, it was all good-natured kidding, but there was one man whose bitter taunts were obviously serious. Despite all this, my friend remained firm, continued bringing the same lunch, and never got ruffled by his friends’ kidding. He 74 THE OPEN DOOR answered their questions straightforwardly, but the bit- ter sarcasm of that one man remained in his memory. Years later, he saw that old acquaintance again, leaving a Catholic church, dressed as a Catholic priest. The two recognized each other, and fell to talking over old times. Finally the priest said, “It was your example that aroused my interest in Catholicism. I thought if a man like that can take the taunts of a crowd, and still remain proud of his faith—there must be something won- derful about that faith. That led me to inquire about the Church. Today I celebrated my first Mass.” —Mary F. Cunningham Entomologist SCIENTIST looked at a bug With his keen microscopical eye, And he said, “What I see Is a lesson to me That I’ll never forget till I die. “For the infinitesimal bug, Whether taken in part or in whole, From whisker and feeler, To smeller and squealer, Is under one central control. “Such unity built in a bug!” The scientist pondered and then, “If God will do that For a flea or a gnat, Would He plan with less wisdom for men? “Would He fashion a Church for us here, Through which all his blessings might flow With a unity less Than his bug’s? I confess That there’s no other answer but No!” THE OPEN DOOR 75 So the scientist, led by the bug, Started off on a diligent quest For a unified church, And in all of his search Only one measured up to the test. And today people ask him, and smile, When he answers their questioning shrug, And says in reply, “ ’Tis a fact, sir, that I Was led into the Church by a bug.” These verses, by Arnott J. White, are an account of the conversion of Samuel Haldeman (1812—1880), a pro- fessor of Natural Science at the University of Pennsyl- vania. —Yolanda C. Bergamini. Pen Pal As a girl of 14, I joined a movie-fan club, and found a pen pal in the same club. He mentioned that he was a Catholic. I hadn’t thought about the Church be- fore. My pal sent pamphlets, at my request, but they didn’t satisfy. On a trip to Dalton, Ga., I decided to find out what a Catholic church looked like. I visited St. Joseph’s. In 1949, I was graduated from high school, and be- came a nurse’s aid in a state hospital. I started going to morning Mass. After a few weeks, I approached the priest, telling him that I wanted to be a Catholic. He said that I would have to take instructions. I did. I saved money for tuition at a school for nursing. When I was ready for the school, I chose a Catholic hospital for my training, intending to continue my in- structions. But I had been in nurses training only a short time when I got pneumonia. A month later I was 76 THE OPEN DOOR a patient in the state hospital. No more instructions. I had my rosary, but that was all. Then I learned about correspondence courses in re- ligious instruction. I enrolled. The course took about three months. By that time the doctor said I was im- proving, and I hoped to receive Baptism at St. Mary’s. But last July 29 my doctor told me I had fluid on my chest; I had to remain in bed. But I prayed for Baptism. A fellow patient offered to be my sponsor. I would re- ceive the sacrament on the feast of the Assumption. The day finally came. I had to wear my blue pajamas and robe, and was baptized on the porch of a tuberculosis ward. But that didn’t matter. I had too much to be happy about, among other things joining the pen-pal club when I was 14. —Mary Keith. Wristlet WE lived in a “Cat-Iicker vs. Pup-licker” neighborhood. I belonged to the team who yelled at the Catholic kids as they went by to school. One day I found a bright chain of beads, just long enough to go around my wrist. I wore it. A “Cat-licker” girl, a friend of mine, took me to her mother, who explained that the beads were not to be worn, but to be prayed upon. She taught me the Hail Mary. I remembered only the second half, but I prayed it often, fingering the beads and saying, “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.” My public-school teacher took me to Benediction with her during May, and I heard this prayer over and over in the Rosary. I got permission from my father to become a Catholic. Holy Mary, Mother of God, had prayed for me. It was a lovely thing to abandon the “Pup-” team and go over to the “Cat-lickers.” -S. M. C. S. THE OPEN DOOR 77 Deeds Over Words J JE was tall, handsome, persuasive—and a traitor. Dur- ing the German occupation of Italy he had served in the S.S. army. He boasted of being called “the hu- man beast.” Now he was in jail. When Msgr. M. Nasalli Rocca, prison chaplain, vis- ited him in jail, he was received with blasphemies and obscenities. Nevertheless, in his loneliness, and little by little, he came to welcome the priest’s visits. But he as- sured Monsignor Rocca that he would never be con- verted. Rather, he would convert the monsignor. The other prisoners made their Easter duty. But he replied sarcastically to the monsignor’s Easter greeting, taunting him for his failure to convert a “thorough scoundrel.” In June, he was tried and sentenced to be shot from behind. The monsignor hurried to see him, found him strangely changed. “Father,” he said, “your talks and your books left me unmoved. But this morning at the trial, among the mothers and widows whose relatives I had arrested and even killed, I recognized a lady. Her son of 17 I had killed with my own two hands. “When the verdict was given, that lady in black, with tears in her eyes, passed near me and said, ‘Poor Mr. T. I have prayed God and my son so much for you, that they wouldn’t sentence you to death.’ “That mother’s tears, her pardon, and the religion which inspired it were too much for me. Father ... I believe, I believe, I believe, even I!” Four days afterward, with the healing oil of Ex- treme Unction, Father Rocca anointed the bullet-shat- tered head. —Valentine Dorbetello from II Diario of Monsignor Rocca. 78 THE OPEN DOOR Blitz "1~HE Battle of Britain! London was being bombed nightly. In February of 1941 I was working in Lon- don as secretary to a doctor. Another girl, Mary, worked there as a nurse. Being a staunch Scotch Presbyterian, I just barely tolerated Mary as being one of those Irish R. C/s. On my return one evening from a symphony con- cert, I found that our house had had a direct hit and was in flames. I saw Mary being carried out on a stretcher, and I went to the hospital with her. On her deathbed she pressed her rosary into my hand. I asked her where she wished the rosary sent. “It is for you, Dorothy,” she said. “No, Mary, you are making a mistake,” I murmured. “You will need it,” she smiled, and died. I kept the beads. The bombing steadily got worse. Some weeks later I went alone one evening to a piano recital. On arrival, I found that the recital had been postponed because of an air-raid warning, I ducked hastily into the nearest build- ing. Waves of organ music and lights, lights everywhere, met me. I was in a Catholic church. A beautiful Bene- diction service was taking place. I knelt, and lowered my head whenever I saw the people around me doing so. They were singing a hymn. A few minutes later a bell at the altar sounded loudly three times, and again I bowed my head with the others. Suddenly I heard a magnificent voice from the altar, loud and reverent: “Blessed be God.” The congregation echoed “Blessed be God.” “Blessed be His holy Name.” “Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true Man.” The beauty of it! Never had I witnessed such an af- THE OPEN DOOR 79 firmation of faith. The Hallelujah Chorus was as noth- ing compared to it. Tears sprang to my eyes. From that moment I was in heart and spirit a Catholic. I arranged for instruction the following day. —Dorothy Blair. Northern Light MY husband and I invited several guests to spend the Christmas holidays with us. We were living near the Arctic circle in Alaska at that time and guests would help drive away some of our cold loneliness. These guests included a Norwe- gian surgeon, a novelist, an ex-pugi- list and a poet. Though the camara- derie was delightful, we were, never- theless, a bit homesick. In the midst of our reminiscing we heard the voice of a musher, probably several miles away, shouting the familiar “Mush on! Mush on! Mush on!” to a dog team. The surgeon said, “That sounds like the Catholic priest! I wonder where he is going this bitterly cold night.” Our dogs in the lean-to, excited by the spectacular display of northern lights and the call of the musher, be- gan to howl their weird wolf cry. We hushed the dogs and, reaching for coats and parkas, hurried outside to wait for the traveler. All was silent, now, except for the creaking of sled runners and the urgent command of the driver. Soon, on the top of a hill, a man muffled in parka and furs, at the handlebars of a sled drawn by seven dogs, was silhouetted against the aurora borealis. The poet whispered, reverently—“God, what a sermon!” We hailed the musher and learned that he was the Jesuit priest, traveling 25 miles to bring Viaticum to a THE OPEN DOOR dying Siwash Indian. Only the poet knew the real mean- ing of the priest’s sacred mission, and knelt in the snow. Far into the night and early dawn, we discussed that meaning, and learned much from our guest. When, a few years later, my husband and I were received into the Mystical Body, we recalled our first instruction, the wordless sermon depicting the splendor of truth in the Arctic sky. —Rose Roy. The Blind See | AM blind, and another blind person led me to the open door of the Church. My blind friend Richard Mich- aels is a member of the Philadelphia Catholic Guild for the Blind. He asked me if I would like to attend a meet- ing. I said, “Yes, if a non-Catholic would be welcome.” Father Thomas J. Rilley, guild moderator, assured Rich- ard that I would be welcome, and also invited me to come early enough for the Rosary and sermon with which the meetings are opened. I found the first meeting so interesting, I came again, and again, thanks to the guides who volunteer their services and cars. The light of grace glowed in my darkness, I asked for instructions, and was baptized and received First Communion. One of my guides, Miss Elizabeth McCalla, con- sented to be my sponsor. Now, I cannot thank her and the guild enough for their help and encouragement; and I am eternally indebted to the Little Sister of the As- sumption who instructed me, and Mrs. Brogan, my con- vert friend, who read and taught me my prayers and catechism. And more and more do I appreciate the at- mosphere of peace in church, due to the reverence paid the Holy Eucharist in the tabernacle, which also drew me toward the Church. —Elsie Lutz. THE OPEN DOOR 81 Prisoner A LAWYER was accused of embezzling funds. He and his wife were Protestants, he the director of the choir. The lawyer was found guilty, and given 10 years. His wife thought that if someone with a little prestige would put in a good word for him with the judge, his term might be shortened. She approached the Catholic priest. The priest knew the lawyer quite well. He consented, and when the judge asked the priest to appear in behalf of the ac- cused, he did so. The lawyer, upon hearing what the Catholic priest had done for him, immediately wrote an article for his home-town paper praising the Church and the priest. His term was shortened to three years; and when he arrived home, one of his Catholic neighbors was first to welcome him. The lawyer’s greeting to his Catholic neighbor was, "Well, I believe the same as you do now, Bill. I’m a Catholic, too/’ He had taken instructions while he was serving his term, and now his wife is tak- ing instructions from the priest who went to bat for her husband. —Miss Marie K. Ryan Home Run Error AN error made in the records at Denver’s Children’s hospital in 1941 has resulted to date in six convers- ions to the Church. Young Father John Regan, then an assistant in Ca- thedral parish, visited a 15-year-old patient, Patricia Mc- Anespie, while making his hospital rounds. "Would you like to go to confession, Patricia?” The young girl looked at him, puzzled. "Confession? I don’t know what you mean.” THE OPEN DOOR An orderly had mistakenly listed her as a Catholic. But that did not end it for Patricia McAnespie. She thought it over and ended up by asking Father Regan to tell her about the Catholic faith. Six months later she was received into the Church. That excited her older brothers interest. A year later Jack McAnespie was received into the Church. This set the parents of the two children to think- ing. In 1946, when Father Regan returned to Denver from a stint in the armed services as a chaplain, the par- ents, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph McAnespie, took instructions and were baptized. Then, in 1950, Father Regan, still amazed at the chain of events that had started with a mistaken entry on a hospital form, baptized Patricia’s husband of two years, John Collins, and their little month-old daughter, Ann Elizabeth. Six conversions in nine years! Father Regan cannot believe, somehow, that it is all a mistake. — .Ed Miller. Statuesque WHENI was about 12 years old my mother and I were shopping in a large variety store. Mother said, “Look around and pick out something you’d like and I’ll buy it for you.” I looked at jewelry and a lot of foolish things that would appeal to a 12-year-old. Then my eyes were drawn to a beautiful statue of what I thought was the Blessed Virgin. (I later found out that it was “The Lit- tle Flower.”) I didn’t hesitate for a minute. I said, “This is what I want, Mother.” She looked at me askance. “This is for a Catholic, and you’re a Protestant,” she said. My mind wasn’t to be changed, though, and I left the store with the statue held tightly in my arms. When we THE OPEN DOOR 83 arrived home I put the statue on my dresser where I could admire it. We moved quite often but my statue traveled wherever we went. About six years later, Mother had a spare room and decided to rent it. A young man came to look at it, and as he was going through our apartment he spied my statue. He was a Catholic, and thinking we were a Catholic family, he decided it would be a nice place to live. The young man and I fell in love. I turned Cath- olic and we were married. We have three children, a boy and two girls, who all go to parochial schools. Now, 22 years later, my statue of St. Theresa still stands on my dresser. Some of the paint has worn off and her nose is broken but I wouldn’t part with her for anything. —Edna M. Bigham . Order In Church A CERTAIN non-Catholic, perhaps through curiosity, one day seated himself in a rear pew during Mass. Through the Mass he sat, even up to the Consecration. Next to him knelt a Catholic man. Seeing that the non- Catholic made no effort to kneel at the Consecration, the Catholic was vexed into impropriety himself and growl- ed to his seated companion, in no uncertain terms, "Dammit, kneel down.” The non-Catholic was so taken by surprise that without hesitation he did as the Cath- olic commanded. The result: his curiosity was aroused. He wondered at the importance of this having to kneel down. Leaving the church, he made it a point to intro- duce himself to the Catholic, and asked what the Mass was all about. He received the answer and in due time took instructions and was received into the Church, all because of a few "strong words” uttered at the right time. —Rita Bezy. 84 THE OPEN DOOR Nick Of Time | REMEMBER my mother teaching her family about God and His wonderful gifts. We were non-Catholics, and for 41 years I went from one church to another. Then the time came at last for God to work His wonders. I was sitting in a Catholic hospital with my son for three long days. Midnight, All Saints day, I went to the chapel to try to pray, and I seemed to hear a voice calling me. It asked, “Has your child been baptized?” I got to my feet and ran to find Sister Superior. She was already sleeping, but got up and prayed with me. I begged her to call the priest. He came to me and talked the rest of the night, and we also prayed. When it was daylight the priest said, “Your son is with God. He was baptized just before he died.” Then it seemed to me there was no one else but the priest and God there with me. I walked out of the hospital a be- lieving Catholic. That was 20 years ago. My other four children are now Catholics, too. And' when I think of my 41 years in darkness, I pray God to help me keep my faith. —Mary Olson. Rhodesiana | HAD known Elias Chigomo back in the savannah veldt of the native reservations of the MaShona tribes in Rhodesia, where I ran an Anglican mission. There I had baptized Elias. There Elias had learned simple arithmetic at the mission school and sufficient English to get him a simple job anywhere in Southern Africa. Now Elias stood before me on the sidewalk of a THE OPEN DOOR 85 busy street in Johannesburg. This chance meeting, three days by train from the native backveldt, was sheer coin- cidence. “And what are you doing here?” I asked him. “I work as office messenger boy, sir,” he replied. “And how do you like it here?” “Ah!” he smiled, “Very big life here. Very small life home in Muriwa’s country.” Money was the bait that brought thousands like Elias from the veldt into “Jo’burg,” where so many set- tled and lost themselves in its life, and their souls too, in some cases. “What about church?” I inquired. Elias glanced at me, then at the sidewalk, and as he answered this and other questions he fitfully kicked and toed at the near-by curb. “Church very hard,” he said, “for poor MaShona boy. Here in Jo’burg, no services at church in my language like at home and at mission.” “But there is a fine native church over in Sophia- town,” I said to him. “Yes” said Elias. “Fine church for Anglican native folk. But they sing SiXhosa one Sunday and SeSuto the next. Not enough native MaShona for my language to sing. Besides AmaXhosa people and BaSuto people not want MaShona people sing their language in Jo’burg.” “What about white man’s Anglican church?” I said. It was Elias’s turn to protest. “Sir, you know church- warden gentlemen in white men’s church doesn’t want black boy around. When white men finish coming out from church, I go in and I see white man’s clergyman. I tell him I want to confess. (Our mission, in the Anglo- Catholic tradition, taught confession.) White men’s clergyman say no need I confess. God forgive me sins if I confess without coming to clergyman. I tell him I con- fess clergyman and God too. He say best thing I go to 86 THE OPEN DOOR native church if I must confess. Church very hard for MaShona boy in Jo’burg!” There was Elias’s problem. As a missionary it was mine too. Was it really fair, I asked myself, to continue missions among native folk in Africa which taught a way of life which was so hard to fulfill as soon as they left their native backveldt for the big cities of the white men? Suppose Elias’s first contact with Christianity had been through the Catholic missions. Would this prob- lem ever have confronted him? Would he ever have been puzzled by services in a vernacular which was strange when he moved from one tribal area to another? Would he ever have been confronted with a clergyman who advised him that confession was not really neces- sary when, probably, the one thing he wanted most in the new life of a strange city was just that? A Catholic native convert, whether he came into the cities of the Union of South Africa from north of the Zambesi or from the semi-desert of Southwest Africa, knew what he could find and expect in these cities of the white people: the same pastoral care, the same Mother Church, the same Mass for Suto or Nyasa boy, for white man or colored. I found myself wishing that, for his own sake, poor Elias had never met any other than a Catholic mission. I found myself regretting that for these native folk who leave their heathen ways for what they understand Christianity to be, there should be any other missions than those of the Catholic Church. My own problem had concerned apostolicity, episcopacy, and papacy. Poor Elias’s had been of practical concern. Here was one more argument in favor of Catholic Christianity. I made my decision. I am now, four years later, a Catholic school-master in England. —Frank Roberts. THE OPEN DOOR Made Faces at Priest Nj/ES, today would be the day—right after her nap. Well, yes, she would take her milk and graham crackers first—maybe even an ice-cream cone if the “Good Hu- mour” man came around. Then she would go directly to the front yard. He always passed their house about that time of the day. Then she would show him—she would let him know—she would . But her mother’s call put an end to planning, for now she had to go upstairs for her nap, though she fully knew she was too excited to sleep. Two hours later, nap finished, lunch consumed, she sailed triumphantly to the front yard and sat down near the elm tree—from there she could see him as he rounded the corner. Then immediately she would start walking to the sidewalk and stop just a few feet away. Oh, she could hardly wait, but it would be worth the waiting, she told her doll, as she grabbed it to straighten out its dress. There he was! All dressed in black with just a white band around his neck. Now was the time! She rose boldly and strode toward the walk, hardly able to control her- self until she would arrive just a few feet from him. There—he was looking at her—now was the time! And confident as Napoleon she took her stand and did it! She screwed up her tiny eyes and nose until she had made the most awful face at him (she had been practic- ing before a mirror—she knew just how to do it!) But every line in her face disappeared when he made a face at her exactly as she had done. Surprised at her own game, she ran back into the house so rapidly that she did not hear the priest’s chuckles. By the next afternoon her original fright had disap- peared somewhat, leaving her as bold as the previous day. The same scene occurred; the same faces were made 88 THE OPEN DOOR by each. But this time as she backed away from him, she found herself walking right into her mother s arms. “Oh, Mummy!” And then she realized that Mummy was laugh- ing and so was the man all dressed in black. Why, he seemed almost as nice as her father—and he wasn’t mak- ing that ugly face any longer! Thus was the first contact made, and within a few months both mother and father had asked to take in- structions to become Catholics. —S.M.J. Sixteen ^IXTEEN years ago I snapped out of a five-day coma to my first acquaintance with the Catholic Church. The nun standing by my bedside was stern faced, sharp spoken. “Say your prayers,” she said, “and thank God. It is only by His special favor that you are alive today.” In the following days, before I left the hospital with my tiny premature girl, I learned what she had done. “I baptized you when we thought you were dying,” she said. “Your husband said you would want to be. Then I prayed through the night that you might be spared for your children.” She told me it was almost impossible that my child would live more than a few weeks, but she made me promise that, if she did, we would visit her. That summer we made the visit. The years passed, and I was busy with a growing family. I had no further contact with the Church. Some- times I would think of that old nun, but I did not think to pray. When our little girl was 12, she asked to at- tend the catechism class in the parish church. A few weeks later my husband and I knelt in the chapel while she was baptized. The following winter we were in- structed. I have an ageless picture of the face framed in a bedcap as my old friend lay on her deathbed in my visit THE OPEN DOOR 89 afterwards. I went to thank her for her prayers, to tell her of the peace and joy I had found. She forgot her pain and weakness, and her eyes were soft and glad as she asked about my children and their children. She had reason for her interest, for her prayers had led three of us home. —(Mrs.) Maude McKinney . Salesman Sold QN the feast day of the Holy Rosary, our high-school senior class acted out the Living Rosary on the campus. Right in the middle of our prayers, a salesman walked into the school yard. He didn’t seem to know what was going on, until an unseen choir chanting the Magnificat halted him in his tracks. Then he turned, fascinated by something that was happening outside our grounds. Staring in from the iron fence that surrounds our school stood a little old lady, bent and poorly dressed. Clutched in her wrinkled hand was a rosary, and with her lips she was following our prayers. The sales- man stood as if in a trance and waited until the end. This year, on the feast of the Holy Rosary, he re- turned again. This time he wasn’t selling anything. He came to tell the Sisters that his previous year’s experi- ence had made him a Catholic. —M. T. Long Argument JN a biology class in an eastern university we were dis- cussing the philosophical and religious significance of evolution. The generalizations finally whittled down to a debate between another student, a professed atheist, and myself. Although not an evolutionist myself, it was 90 THE OPEN DOOR easy to point out that, even if the theory were proved a fact, it would be to God's greater honor and glory. After all is it not a greater feat to clear a pool table with one shot than to do it ball by ball? The bell ended our argument, but my friend accept- ed a challenge, and frequent meetings followed. Evolu- tion still did not explain first causes—the arguments of St. Thomas appealed to his intellect. Finally, after months of discussion, reading, and prayer he had to ad- mit the Catholic claim and joined the Church. He en- tered the service, after which nothing but a Catholic education would satisfy him. He had arrived at the faith through reason. Now he wished to arrive at reason through the faith. My friend now studies at a Catholic university and is preparing to enter the field of psy- chiatry. —Vincent A. Corsall. Door to Door “|~HIS story might well be called The Open Door to the Open Door, for it was this very column that helped my husband into the Church. We had been married only a short time when his long interest in our faith matured sufficiently for him to enroll in an instruction class. How- ever, as an air-force pilot he was beset by chronic set- backs: absences on flights, change of instructors, and change of station. When, on arrival at our new station, we found that we would be there only six months before leaving for overseas duty, he said that he was too discouraged to start all over again with such a time limit. My prayers were redoubled, but nothing seemed to help. A few weeks later I was hospitalized with the birth of our first child, and passed much of the time reading. It was then I read in The Open Door of a woman who was converted by the Knights of Columbus correspond- THE OPEN DOOR 91 ence course in religion. This seemed the perfect answer, and I wrote to the director before I left the hospital. His immediate and personal answer was appreciated by my husband, who requested the course almost by return mail. Three months and six lessons later, after a few brief conversations with our parish priest, my husband was baptized, as happy a man (and wife) as could be found. Prior to reading The Open Door, neither of us had known that such a thing as correspondence courses in religion existed. Before we left that station, at least one other person was enrolled in the correspondence course. —Mary Jane Regan. Curiosity Kills Three Cats 0LD Doctor Timothy Papin was a man of extraordin- ary piety. You might see him at all the early Masses at St. Francis Xavier s in St. Louis. After the 7 o’clock Mass, he would make the Way of the Cross. In the chancel just beyond the last station, there was a huge crucifix. He would conclude his morning devotions by kneeling, and embracing this cross for fully a quarter of an hour every morning. Despite all his piety, when it came to choosing a wife he selected a non-Catholic. He was twice a wid- ower and both his second and third marriages were also to non-Catholics. But all three wives became Cath- olics. Asked how his wives were won to the faith, he would explain: "All women are richly endowed with a blessed curiosity. I had a first volume of the works of Alphonsus Rodriguez on Christian Perfection. Its first chapter emphasized "The great value that we should place on spiritual 92 THE OPEN DOOR things.” I used to read this book rather furtively and then carefully hide it away as if I were afraid my wife should know what I was reading. All three wives found the book no matter how carefully I concealed it, read it, and found how great an esteem they should have for spiritual things. There is no controversy in that book but there is the breath of the Holy Spirit that moves honest hearts into the true fold.” —Laurence Kenny , SJ. Tenacity in Faith FEW weeks ago, a daily communicant from my par- ish told me this: "During our lunch hour at the local steel mill, the idle chatter of our group invariably turned to religion and particularly the Catholic Church. The only Catholic in the group, five in all, was a college student on the co- op educational plan. We made a fool out of the poor fellow, taunting him because he wasn’t too sharp on his catechism and Church History. He was likeable though, and had lots of determination. "One afternoon after an especially hilarious lunch hour at his expense, the boy invited me to dinner at his home on the following week. I was embarrassed at his frankness and tenacity—there was nothing to do but ac- cept the invitation. "The following week, I went to dinner at the boy’s home. Later the same evening, against all my resolu- tions, the boy took me to see his pastor. Down deep in- side, I felt I could out-talk the priest just as I had all other Catholics. To humor my host I went along with bored resignation. "I was suprisingly interested in what the priest had to say because he had the answers to all my problems THE OPEN DOOR 93 and he set the Church in a light I had never considered before. Two and a half hours later, I signed up for the Inquiry Classes then beginning with the understanding that I was not obliged to become a Catholic at their completion. "Several weeks and many classes later, I told my cronies at the mill about my change of heart and future plans. Some of them are considering the possibilities for the next session of Inquiry Classes.” All of this happened because a young college stu- dent had the convictions of his Faith and the tenacity to follow those convictions! — P. Ashton The Mass 4 i | BELIEVE in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth: and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord . . .” Keith had recited the Apostles Creed in church every Sunday morning for as long as he could remember. But this Sunday for the first time he was listening to the words. What did they really mean? Keith was a Methodist—as were his parents, his par- ents’ parents and their parents. He had attended Sunday School and church each Sunday since he was four years old. He was active in all church affairs and when he was afraid or in trouble he prayed. That was the extent of his religion, and it satisfied him. That is, until a few weeks ago. Now, at the age of 21, alone in a big city on his first job, he had begun to feel the need for something more tangible, something stronger. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but something was missing from his life. He had talked with his minis- ter about the beliefs and doctrines of his church, but had 94 THE OPEN DOOR found nothing new—nothing that he had not always known. “. . . the communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlast- ing” Did his church really believe in the communion of Saints when it did not recognize the existence of Saints? Is the forgiveness of sins only for the next life? Why not now—today? Here was a starting point. He would find a church that truly believed in the words of the Apostles Creed. But where to turn? He had visited other churches—Bap- tist, Presbyterian, Lutheran—and had found little that differed from Methodist beliefs. His answer was in the Creed itself. “I believe in the Holy Ghost , the holy catholic church . . Oh, he had heard the explanation many times that this catholic was spelled with a small “c” but maybe it shouldn’t be. It was worth a try, and anyway, he would not have to wait until next Sunday to begin his search for he knew that Mass was held every day. Early the next morning Keith went to Mass. He bought a small missal at the door and went in and knelt with the other early risers. What followed was the most wonderful experience of his life. There, on his knees, he met God. And he was not at a loss for words, for in his hand he held the most beautiful words of praise, thanks- giving and petition that he had ever read. In the weeks that followed, he rushed through each day toward the next morning when he could again read the words and see Christ with his own eyes as the priest elevated the Host. Keith came to my husband and me for advice on books to read, how to begin instructions, etc., but we THE OPEN DOOR 95 cannot claim him as “our convert” for in his heart Keith became a Catholic that first morning as he knelt and opened his missal. —Mrs. John V. Whittenburg. In Front Of The 8-Ball |N 1944 a Protestant young man prepared to go over- seas with his outfit. When he reached Honolulu he was dropped off as a replacement. I met him there and took him to Mass with me several times. « When I was packing to go home in 1946, he called, seeming very up- set over the loss of a small gold cross. His name had been inscribed on the back, and he said he had wanted me to have it, but he had lost it out on the sands while on guard duty the night before. I told him in a light, offhand manner that a prayer to St. Anthony usually takes care of things like that for me. Two days later a camp dog called 8-Ball came into the canteen. In his mouth was the very cross my friend had lost. The young man is now an ardent Catholic and my husband. I am wearing the cross I feel is responsible for both his conversion and marriage. —Mrs. Lloyd E. Elliott The Open Door | HAVE lived in New York City all my life, but because I was born of Jewish parents, who were, and are, as devout in their religion as I am in my newly found be- lief, I knew nothing about the Catholic Church. My first contact with Catholicity came quite by accident. I was 96 THE OPEN DOOR caught in a sudden storm and sought shelter in a church which was nearby. Upon entering the building I knew only that it was a church, and not that it was a Catholic church. I stood in the vestibule for several minutes and then, because I noticed others entering, went inside. It was early evening. I was going home from work as were thousands of others. Hundreds of worshippers, it seem- ed to me, entered that church, not merely to get out of the rain, but to pray. They came, stayed a few minutes, then departed. But while there they evidenced real de- votion. Many lighted candles, others simply knelt down and prayed. Some entered a little box which I learned later was a confessional. From my brief visit in that Catholic Church and the impression made upon me by the devotion of the Catholics who entered while I was there, grew a longing to know more about Catholicity. I returned several times, and on one occasion noticed a Catholic paper in the rear of the church. I picked it up and took it home with me. It was Our Sunday Visitor. The next Sunday and for weeks after, I returned to the church to get the current issue of this paper. Later I subscribed for it. For five years I read it attentively, and also the Catholic pamphlets and books which I saw advertised therein. Then I approached the parish priest at the church near- est my home, took instructions and was baptized. My visit to that church to get out of the rain was an accident. It might well have been a Protestant church in which I sought shelter. If it had been I would still be a Jew in religion as well as in nationality and would have missed a happiness of which I had previously never dreamed. But I do not believe I would be a Catholic today if I had not seen a copy of Our Sunday Visitor, from which I learned most of what I know about God and His Church. —D. A. B.