The Cross

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Part of The Cross

Title: The Cross
Issue Date: Volume II (Issue No. 8) August 1947
Year: 1947
Language: English
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extracted text: (For complete Table of Contents, see page 2) INTERESTING INFORMATIVE CONCISE A Symposium of Opinions on: Should the Communist Party be Outlawed:? Vol. II/ AUGUST, 191| Moral Rebirth Through Education CURE FOR MORAL BANKRUPTCY by Lorenzo Tafiada BISHOP IS CONSECRATED Amado Ballesteros MURDER BY MICROBE Antonio de Joy a V-J Espino, Jr. 1*30.000 can go up In smoke in the space of minutes! A rice mill of timber and galvanized iron—costing about P5U.0OU and which represents the income of hundreds of men and their families- can be protected from the disastrous blows of unforcInsure with PHILIPPINE GUARANTY OFFICES AT THE THIRD FLOOR, INSULAR LIFE BLDG. PLAZA CERVANTE5 , MANILA __________ JUST ARRIVED! THE LATEST BOOKS OF GENERAL INTEREST AND THE LARGEST ABRIDGED DICTIONARY PUBLISHED LEE HOW TO HOLD AN AUDIENCE WITHOUT A ROPE .......... l‘ 6.00 QUEEN 101 YEARS ENTERTAINMENT ......... 4.00 RICCIOTTI THE LIFE OF CHRIST .... 15.00 ALDES LORDS OF THE PRESS ................ 6.00 FLESCH THE ART OF PLAIN TALK ............................ 5.00 BRODIE THE ABSOLUTE WEAPON ............................. 5.50 FIELD THE JAPANESE AT LEYTE GULF.......... 5.00 THE AVIATION ANNUAL OF 1947 10.00 FUNK & WAGNALLS’ College Standard Dictionary ................. 9.00 MAIL ORDERS ACCEPTED; ADD P0.20 PER BOOK FOR POSTAGE Regina Building, Escolta - Banquero Streets Manila, Philippines We specialize in serving Catholic institutions BOOKS * MAGAZINES * PAMPHLETS RELIGIOUS ARTICLES & CATHOLIC SUPPLIES TABLE OF CONTENTS FEATURES: A Bishop is Consecrated .................................. Amado Ballesteros 3 Should the Communist Party be Outlawed? ................................... 10 GENERAL: Bargain in Brimstone ............................................... Fulton Oursler 6 Perplexed ,.............................................................. by a Parish Priest 18 Murder by Microbe .................................................... Wilfrido Borja 21 They Did Not Forget Their God ................. Dominador I. Ilio 25 Cure for Bankruptcy ............................................. Lorenzo Tanada 4J You, of course, being a Catholic ............................. Arnold Lunn 47 Philippine Modern Day Saint ................................................................ 49 POETRY: V-J ....................................................................... Jose Ma. Espino, Jr. 27 DEPARTMENTS: From the Managing Editor’s Desk ..................................................... 60 Cross Sections of Filipiniana ............................................................... 32 Quiz Section:— What’s Your Moral I.Q.? ............................................................. 34 What Kind of a Theologian Are You? ................................... 35 Newsmonth ............................... by Catholic Information Service 53 From the Bookshelves: XI ................................................................... 58 Cross Currents of Readers’ Views ..................................................... 63 Managing Editor-. ANTONIO R. DE JOYA. Biwinew Manager-. RAUL C. REYES. Board of Editors-. ANTONIO ESTRADA. HERMENEGILDO B. REYES. NICOLAS ZAFRA, ENRIQUE FERNANDEZ LUMBA. Contributing Editors-. SALVADOR ARANETA, MIGUEL CUENCO, PACIT.A SANTOS. ROSITA MA. SOTTO-PENERA. The CROSS is a Catholic publication issued monthly by The Cross Magazine with the permission of the ecclesiastical authorities. Contributions to The CROSS are welcome, provided they are in line with the policy and standards adopted by this magazine. All submitted manuscripts must be typewritten in duplicate and accompanied by return postage; otherwise, no return will be made in case of rejection. Subscription Rates: One year—local: P4:00; foreign: $3.00. Printed at Caeho Hermanos, Inc., 672 Legarda, Manila. Registered aa sedond class mail matter at the Post Office of Manila. Published by THE CROSS MAGAZINE Regina Bldg., 15—17 Banquero and Escolta, Manila Philippines A BISHOP IS CONSECRATED By Amado Ballesteros ON JULY 24, 1947 just as the sun cast its first rays on the dewy Agno Valley, a young priest set forth from Mangaldan, Pangasinan and head ed for Vigan. The bells from his parish church pealed a solemn farewell as his people, flocking together from their homes, said good-bye to this young man who had worked among them for years. He stopped for a moment at. the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Manaoag to say a last prayer before the Virgin to whose throne he had brought his people so many times during ten fruitful years. He was not alone. With him were three Dominicans, one of them a professor of his during his student days at the Central Se minary at Santo Tomas Universi ty. Monsignor Guglielmo Piani, Philippine Apostolic Delegate, Bishop Verzosa of Lipa and the Most Reverend Olano, just arrived from Guam, followed in another As the car bearing the young priest rolled through Ilocos Sur, it passed under arches of triumph, arches of welcome. Tagudin, San ta Cruz, Santa Lucia, Candon, Santiago, San Esteban, Narvacan, Santa Maria, the whole province up to the banks of the Agno River, turned out to meet him. In town after town, he was greeted by the ringing of bells as old and young alike lined the streets to hail him as his car sped along. By the time he has passed through the last town, he had a collection of floral offerings THE CROSS which, in number and beauty, would have pleased the Virgin herself. Later he was to bring these flowers back to Mangaldan and place them before the altar at which he had offered so many Masses as a parish priest. At the banks of'the Abra River, the motor procession paused to rest. Perhaps, as he gazed at the slowly flowing waters, the young man wondered at the sudden turn of events that had made him a prince of the Church. For his name was Juan Sison, and in a few hours he was to become the youngest bishop in the Philip pines, perhaps in the entire Far East. Here on the Abra river decorat ed barges were waiting to carry the new bishop-elect and his party across.' Waiting on the other side of the river was a welcoming party, headed by Monsignor For tuna, the Vicar General of the •diocese, and the Very Reverend Fr. Hettiger, Rector of the Dioce san Seminary in Vigan. Triumphal Entry The entry of the Fr. Sison into Vigan was scheduled for 3 o’clock in the' afternoon. Before that hour the flimsy clouds sailing overhead had broken apart and were falling down in a strong drizzle. But the rain did not dampen the enthusiasm of those who were to participate in the colorful consecration ceremonies. Men and women, coeds from the schools, children in their Sun day clothes moved as one under the arches that had been erected along the entire route of the triumphant procession. School bands blared forth their martial music, leading the crowds on to the bishop-elect’s hour of triumph. Te Deum Then the "Te Deum" was in toned. By 6 o'clock an enormtous crowd of delegates and pilgrims had assembled, eagerly awaiting the consecration ceremonies that were to take place the next day. Fateful Day The dawn of the 25th was greeted by a band reveille that echoed down the quickly-filling streets. As early as 3:30 A.M. the tremendous number of priests had already started saying the chain of Masses that would con tinue until the consecration actual ly began. AL six o’clock the procession moved.out of the episcopal palace and headed towards the cathedral. Preceding the bishops in the proAUGUST, 1947 cession was the select group of sponsors, headed by Chief Justice Manuel V. Moran of the Supreme Court and Mrs. Aurora de Que zon, widow of the late President. Long before the hour of conse cration the cathedral had already been filled with people who had pushed their way into the church to witness a ceremony to which centuries of tradition had added their splendor. At seven o’clock the ceremony began, with the Apostolic Dele gate acting as consecrating bi shop. Assisting him were Bishop Constancio Jurgens of Tuguegarao and 'Bishop Pedro Santos of Bicolandia. Bishop Jose Maria Cuenco preached the sermon, and after him Bishop Mariano Madriaga explained the ceremonies from the pulpit. The ceremonies went on as three hours ticked past. And as the ceremonies came to an end, the new Prince approached his mother, who had come despite age and ailment, to kiss her hand and to give her the privilege of bes towing the first kiss on his pas toral ring. And people who look ed on saw the bishop try to hold back the tears that rimmeS his eyes. Thus was a bishop made, and thus did a humble parish priest become a prince of the Church. Note: His Excellency, the Most Reverend Juan C. Sison, S.T.D., is the Titular Bishop of Limata, Numidia and Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Nueva Segovia. He is a native of Villasis, Pangasinan where he first saw the light of day on August 8, 1912. Prior to his elevation, he had been parish priest of Mangaldan, Pangasinan for ten years. He finished his Classical' and Philosophical studies at the Immaculate Con ception Seminary in Vigan. Be cause of his exceptional talent, he was sent to the Central Semi nary of the University of Santo Tomas where he was ordained priest in March, 1935. He obtained his Doctorate in Sacred Theology from the same University in 1942. At 35, he is the youngest of all Philippine bishops. PRACTICAL ETHICS . Boswell told Sam Johnson that a guest denied there was any dif ference between Virtue and Vice. Said Johnson: “If he says that and doesn’t believe it, he is a liar; if he does believe it, we had better count the spoons.” ***** Nine times out of ten it isn’t the child that needs correction. It ’s the parent. —Father Flanagan BARGAIN IN BRIMSTONE FULTON OURSLER THE young assistant pastor had been warned that his new assignment in the abattoir quart er, “back of the yards,” was a nightmare parish. In that region of bull pens, slaughterhouses, and slums there was more sordidness than in all the rest of the town. One muggy afternoon in deep July he stood on the steps of his church where the mercury neared 100 degrees. His body, swathed in a cassock; winced with prickly heat. A whiff of cheap perfume pre ceded the girl who now stood de fiantly before him. Framed in frizzled hair tied in pink bows, her face was aged in experience, yet hopelessly young and futile; catlike eyes looked up at him in steadfast contempt. She was weaving and twining her fingers together with a faint jingle of bracelets and there flashed through his mind the lines of Elinor Wylie: “I am, being woman, hard beset; I live by squeezing from a stone The little nourishment I get.” Then he heard her husky whis per: “Relax, big boy. I didn’t come here on religious business!” "Then what are you here for?” the priest asked. “To kill time,” she replied with a bumptious giggle. “But why?” “Oh, I just promised my old lady I would come to church, that’s all. She’s waiting, down the street. I only want to stay about five minutes, to let her think I’m going to confession.” The priest mopped his dripping forehead cleared his throat cau tiously, and began: “Listen, child— “Call me Aggie. That’s my name. Aggie Retzinek.” “I am not asking your name,” he said, “but I will tell you it’s Russian—Agafia. It came from a Greek word and do you know what it means? It means ‘good’.’’ 6 AUGUST, 1947 “That’s a joke on you, big boy. Let me tell you something—I’m the worst girl in this town.” “Oh no, you’re not! I know the worst girl.” “And who is she?" “She’s the one who thinks she is the best girl in town.” There was remote banter in his tone. “You know, I might make your confession for you.” “Listen, big boy—I just got out of the State Reformatory for girls. Reformatory!” She spewed out the word, dis gorging with it a torrent of bro thel profanity. The young priest knew that her language was only a projection of her own inner self contempt, and therefore there was hope for her. “I fell for your holy stuff at first,” she went on. “All I cared about was getting out of there. So I went to chapel and I prayed to God. But He must have been too busy for the likes of me.” “Perhaps He said no.” “Have it any way you want. I didn’t go free, that’s all. So tlien—’’ “Go on I” “All right. You asked for it. I prayed to the devil!” The priest’s face blanched. Here was an unfamiliar transgression indeed; faith turned wickedly up side down! “But the devil,*' he prodded quietly, “doesn’t he always ask a price?” “Why shouldn’t he? Don’t you? I promised him, if he would only get me out of that place, I would make nine sacrilegious commun ions. I did, too. I took communion and I cursed God! Plenty! And you know what? After the eighth time I got paroled. So now, big boy—what do you say to that?” In three universities, the priest had worked for scholarly degrees. He was a well-educated, even a sophisticated man. Yet at this atrocious disclosure he felt as if in the bodiless presence of Evil itself. Tremulous, quavering, he heard himself answering: “I say he got a good bargain, that’s what I say! This devil you prayed to, he gives you what you call freedom and in exchange he gets an immortal soul. But—’’ “Don’t get yourself so worked up, big boy.” “You’re cheating the devil—and I thank God for it. There’s still time.” “Look here, I never broke a bargain with anybody! Never!” “Your soul is not lost, not yet.” “How dare you say such a thing to me?” she cried in a sudden, tearful rage. “Why did you come to this church? To please your mother! That means your mother is still dear to you—and don’t you see? —no one who loves can be hope lessly lost. Give me five minutes —and all this can be blotted out like a bad dream.” THE CROSS She shuddered pitifully, as if she were contorted by some vio lent emotion; her breath came in gasps and her cheap bracelets jangled. "That’s enough!” she panted, "rm leaving. You can’t do no thing to me!” “Stay here and pray,” pleaded the priest. She turned away. “You’ll come back!” he cried. “Tonight!” The only answer was the click clack of high heels down the mar ble steps into the street. As the priest entered the church to perform his duties as confessor, he told himself that this trollop child must not be lost! The sticky reek of her scent seemed to plague the air, and he could Still hear her strumpet laughter. When he entered the confessional, it seem ed to him as if the tiny, swelter ing box contained all there was of heaven, earth, the bottomless pit, everywhere, and the struggle of good and evil dumped on his lap. sbm. -pauaddeq peq 3utqi aqj, truly believed she had signed up in sulphur and brimstone — and not a fantasy. Aggie Retzinek who was he to underestimate the force of such a belief? He pray ed for guidance. The answer had-been clear from the first. The only way to fight was with the weapons of the soul, love and prayer. He turned to listen to the confessions, to an xiety, loneliness, and distress. All the penitents were given their penances, and then, to one after another, he said: “I ask you now to help me to pray for a special need. Will you stay for one hour in the church and pray?” None refused. One man post poned a journey to join in; others broke off appointments; some volunteered to stay all afternoon. When afternoon and evening confessions were over, the last shafts of twilight slanted through the open door and the tall colored windows of rainbow saints and tinted miracles. Kneeling before the altar, he laid his hot palms on the firm coolness of the mar ble balustrade. From the street came the distant calls of late hucksters crying strawberries and wateripelons, as he began the first “Our Father.” Hour after hour dragged by. Night came late, with the glim mer of flickering candle flames and the ringing of the tower bells. The street noises dimmed and soon the church was abandoned of all except the enrapt friend of Agatha Retzinek. Once there clanged out the siren and the rumble of hook-and-ladders roll ing to a fire, but the kneeling figure did not seem to' hear. He was still keeping solitary vigil AUGUST, 1947 when at 11 o’clock the sexton shuffled in to put out the lights and close the doors. • “Never mind!” called the priest. “I’ll lock up,” and bowed his head again in his bivouac of prayer. It was long after midnight when he heard the click-clack of heels coming down the marble aisle. Hope surged in his soul— and then a whiff of perfume made him gasp with joyous certainty. He did not move or look around as she knelt beside him, but he heard her begin to weep. “If I had not waited for her,” the priest told me, "she would have turned away, perhaps never to come back. Agatha is a stead fast, happy woman today.” I have told this story to men of many faiths and their feelings were all summed up in what Har ry Emerson Fosdick said: “I salute this priest—he is a real, servant of Christ, this Mon signor Fulton J. Sheen!” HARD WORKER There was a man so charitable in speech that a friend once said: think you would speak well even’of the devil!” "Well,” replied the charitable one, “He’s not as good, as he might be, but he certainly is industrious.” THE FIRST PROM. Father Lord says he wax typing and meant to write: “So Christ drove the devils into swine.” Instead he wrote: “So Christ drove the devils into swing.” He thinks this savors of inspiration. SHOULD THE COMMUNIST PARTY BE OUTLAWED? YES ! Col. John Thomas Taylor NO! William H. Chamberlin ADMITTING the evil of Communism, what is the best means to combat it? One means proposed is to ban the Communist Party in the U. S. by legislation. This proposal is at pre sent under consideration by Congress. In favor of such legislation is Col. John Thomas Taylof, di rector of the national legislative committee of the American Legion. Opposed to it is William Henry Chamberlin, foreign cor respondent, author, and lecturer. In the present article they an swer the following questions proposed to them by the editors of THE SIGN: 1. Do you think legislation to outlaw the Communist Party is an effective way to meet the Communist threat? 2. Would a law outlawing the Communist Party be an in vasion of constitutional rights? 3. Would legislation outlawing the Communist Party preju dice our relations with countries where the Communist Party is predominant or influential? 1. Do you think legislation to outlaw the^ Communist Party is an effective way to meet the Cgm-. munist threat? Col. Taylor yES. Communism is an organized and fanatical world movement. Its ideology holds that the opposition be tween Communism and pri vate enterprise is complete and unalterable. As a result of their ideology, Communists believe that capitalism must die in the throes of bloody re volution. I advocate the enactment of legislation embracing a seven point domestic security plan designed to: 1) Outlaw the Communist Party in the United States. io AUGUST. 19-17 2) Ban the use of mails to Communist publications. 3) Provide universal finger printing and identifica tion. 4) Continue the registration of all aliens and authorize a check of their activities. 5) Deport all aliens advocat ing overthrow of the Government by force. 6) Deny admission to the United States of nationals from any country refus ing to receive those aliens ordered deported from the United States. 7) Discontinue Federal aid to institutions of learning which refuse to purge their faculties of Com munists and fellow tra velers. The Committee on UnAmerican Activities, House of Representatives, has just published its report of the in vestigation which it has been conducting. It is the unanim ous opinion of this Commit tee that the Communist Par ty of the United States is, in fact, the agent of a foreign government. It is important that the Government and the people recognize this fact. If the Communist Party is to be properly dealt with, it is essential that the legislation of Congress and the thinking of the people be predicated upon this fundamental fact. Communists in the United States, exclusive of sympa thizers and fellow travelers, number at least 100,000. Here are cadres for ten for eign divisions already on American soil. To them this country is but a theater of operations with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, their motherland. They are agents of a foreign power; their allegiance is to a coun try other than America. Objection has been raised to this legislation on the sup position that it will drive Communists under ground. The fact of the mat ter is, they have achieved their present standing as un derminers of our Govern ment by underground opera tions. Can they get any low er underground? They do not run around spreading their poison against this Govern ment by wearing big, red label buttons bearing the Communist Party insignia. Twelve states in the United States have laws denying a place on the ballot to those organizations whose program includes overthrdw of our form of government. They are: Arkansas, California, Il linois, Indiana, Kansas, Ok lahoma, Ohio, Oregon, Penn 12 THE CROSS sylvania, Texas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Steps should be taken im mediately to outlaw the Com munist Party in the United States through the enact ment of legislation. Unless this is done, America will again be living in a fool’s paradise, the awakening from which will again cost millions of American lives and again cost billions of American dol lars. If ever invasion comes to our shores, our cherished liberties will be its first vic tim. The rights of free speech, free press, public as sembly, and freedom of wor ship as conscience dictates, will disappear under an ene my invader’s hobnailed force, and the same thing will hap pen here as happened over seas in World War II. Indus tries, homes, and churches will be battered into heaps of dust and rubble, and min isters of the gospel and teachers of religion will be tortured and slain, for reli gion, which is the mainstay of a free democracy, is an athema to those who would destroy it as a primary step toward conquest. Mr. Chamberlin NO. I am keenly aware of the Communist threat to American security- and the American way of life. But I do not believe the outlawry of the American Commun ist Party would be an effec tive countermeasure. The Communist threat does not lie in the fact that some seventy or eighty thou sand people in this country belong to the Communist Party, nor in the fact that some two or three hundred thousand votes might be cast Communist candidates in na tional elections. There is‘no danger, within any predicta ble future, that the Com munists could capture our Government by legal means, nor that they would be num erous enough or strong enough to launch a serious uprising against it. Whererthen, is the threat? It is to be found in the fact that American Communists, like Communists in all coun tries, are the organized fifth column of a powerful foreign nation, the Soviet Union, whose leaders are avowedly committed to a program of world domination through world revolution. The ex perience of our neighbor, Canada, shows that even a few Communists can do a good deal of harm as spies. The infiltration of Com munists into leading positions in certain trade unions and their skill in manipulating AUGUST, 1917 13 “front” organizations into which they entice numbers of credulous non-Communisls are dangerous mainly be cause these activities are part of an international con spiracy, directed from Mos cow. Would it next, then, be a good idea to outlaw these agents of a foreign power? My answer is in the negative because I think any bill mak ing the Communist Party il legal would be very much like shooting off an old-fashioned blunderbuss in an attempt to kill a very agile mosquito. Suppose the Communist Party were declared illegal by act of Congress, and that this act was upheld by the Supreme Court. Communists in every country are experts in protective camouflage. They are specifically instruc ted to play a continual double game, to lie, to cheat, to de ceive, to conceal their identi ty when circumstances re quire it. If they were for bidden to function as Com munists they would quickly form another party, giving it some nice-sounding name like “Jefferson Democrats” or “Lincoln Progressives.” What is not always under stood is that the Communist in America is not very dan gerous when - he avows him self a Communist. To the vast majority of our people Com munism is an alien and ab horrent doctrine. The dan gerous advocate of Commun ist subversive ideas is the man or woman who regular ly says: “I’m not a Commun ist, but...” The best way to combat Communism is not to' sup press it officially, to drive it underground, but rather to pin the Communist label plainly and unmistakably where it belongs, on Com munist-dominated organiza tions. We must remember that Communism was sup pressed with a ruthlessness which a free country like America could never match in Czarist Russia, and in Ger many, Italy, and France dur ing the war. Yet it remains powerful in these countries. It seems reasonable to as sume that the effective an swer to Communism here is not suppression, but rather a combination of two things: making our own democracy constantly more real and ef fective and -carrying on 9 constant, relentless campaign of education and exposure, calculated to discredit Corpm u n i s t s and Communist front organizations, no mat ter what camouflage they may try to employ. THE CROSS 2. Would a law outlawing the Communist Party be an invasion of constitutional rights? Col. Taylor NO. There is question of outlawing the Commun ist conspiracy, which seeks to destroy our system of free enterprise—a conspiracy to overthrow our Government. This is treason, and in no place in our Constitution is one who commits treason guaranteed protection. The basis of Communist action in the world, whether in the United States or any other country, is the Communist creed, and this must never be lost sight of. It is their be lief that there will be no peace on earth until all na tions of the world are Com munist. This is a very gen uine belief held by a number of people, and in the further ance of that belief they have developed a doctrine that the end justifies the means and that any means are justified in order to achieve this dom ination of the world, by Com munism. If an American citizen wants to believe in the theo ry of Communism, he has a right to do so, but when he joins a Darty like the Com munist Party of the United States, controlled and direc ted by a foreign government, then he has renounced his lo yalty to the American Gov ernment and he has become the agent of a foreign gov ernment. As the agent of a foreign government he has no rights under our Consti tution. Mr. Chamberfin YES, in my opinion an at tempt to outlaw any pol itical party would be contra ry to the letter and spirit of the American Constitution. This, of course, does not mean that individual Com munists who transgress laws against sedition, espionage, perjury, and commit other offenses, cannot and should not be called to account be fore the courts. But our constitutional law and practice emphasise two points rather strongly. Ex pression of ideas, however wrong-headed and subversive they may seem to the major ity of the people, has ° been left free, insofar as there is no direct incitation to com mit a specific illegal act. And responsibility is conceived as an individual, rather than a group concern. The Communist Party in this country as in every coun try, is a foreign fifth column. There is an abundance of evi dence in the testimony of AUGUST, 1947 15 disillusioned ex-Communists," in the very record of the Communist Party, with its abrupt switches of attitude to suit every change in the foreign policy of the Soviet Union, that this is the case. But the threads which link the Party to Moscow are in the hands of a small number of. trusted leaders, or of agents who are sent here di rectly from Moscow. It would be difficult and probably impossible to con vict the majority of rankand-file American Commun ists of specific offenses against the law. The pros cription of a whole party is alien to our tradition. It would set a precedent which might be dangerous to our basic philoposhy of free dis cussion and government by consent. To outlaw Communists as Communists would involve a grave risk of giving them a chance to pose as martyrs, to invoke the protection of the very Constitution which they would certainly abrogate the day after they came into power. I am not discussing now the measures which would be necessary for our security in the event of arm ed conflict between this country and the Soviet Union. In such an eventuali ty every proved member of the Communist Party would be properly subject to intern ment, just as members of the German-American Bund, of Nazi-inspired and Japanese militarist organizations were liable to internment for the duration of the last war. But so long as we are at peace, I think the following measures would be adequate to safeguard us against Com munist fifth column aggres sion. These measures could all be taken without raising any reasonable question of violating constitutional rights. There should be a careful screening of government em ployees for subversive affilia tions. Laws against espion age and unwarranted betray al of military and industrial secrets should be examined and “ plugged against loop holes. The FBI should be given all the funds and per sonnel it may need to track down foreign agents and spy rings such as the one which developed in Canada. 3. Would legislation outlawing the Communist Party prejudice our relations with countries where the Communist Party is predomi nant or influential? Col. Taylor NO. I say this .because even in countries in the 16 THE- CROSS Soyiet sphere of influence the majority of people arc anti-Communist. In those countries now occupied by armed forces of the Soviet Government, we find Com munists entrenched in the labor movement, the govern ment, the political parties, the schools and colleges, the press, the radio and films, churches and social organiza tions. Their influence is far out of proportion to their dis cipline, their control of stra tegic posts in mass organiza tions, and their ties with the Soviet Government, which has demonstrated its ability to transform insignificant Communist minorities into ruling parties. The number of Communists in proportion to the popula tion is relatively small in China, Rumania, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithua nia. The Communist minority is struggling for power in Belgium, Italy, France, and Denmark. Even in Russia, with its 187 millions of peo ple, the Communists admit only a membership of 6 mil lion, but in all these coun tries the independent peoples struggling for freedom look to the United States to lead them out of the morass of their misery and poverty. If • we outlawed the Communist . Party of the United States, it would be an inspiration to the peoples of the world who •seek freedom but who are under the domination and control of a small minority of Communists within their borders. Mr. Chamberlin I DOUBT whether it would have much real effect, one way or the other. No doubt there would be a hue and cr-y in the government-controlled press of the Soviet Union and its satellite states about what would be called an unparal leled suppression of liberty in the United States. But the governing group® in Communist and Commu nist-dominated lands hate America anyway and will continue to hate it as the main obstacle to their dream of world domination, regard less of what we may do or refrain from doing. It is ab surd to imagine that we can appease totalitarian Comunism. Communist think ing, in Russia and outside of Russia, is dominated by Le nin’s assertion, repeated with approval by Stalin in his book, Problems of Leninism. *T1 is inconce;vable that the Soviet Republic should continue to exist for a long period side by side with im AUGUST, 1947 17 perialist states — ultimately one or the other must con quer. Meanwhile, a number of terrible clashes between the Soviet Republic and the bourgeois states are inevit able.” Imperialist states, bourge ois states — these terms, by any recognizable Communist definition, mean us. Whatever steps may be necessary and effective in dealing with the Communist fifth column in this country should be taken, in my opin ion, without regard for any reactions that may be ex cited in Communist-dominat ed or Communist-influenced states abroad. I oppose the proposal to outlaw the Com munist Party not because of any fear of repercussion in Moscow, Warsaw, or Bel grade, but because I think it would be ineffective and un wise. It would not stop any phase of really dangerous un derground Communist activi ty. It would divide public opinion on the issue of civil liberties and would.excite for the Communists a sympathy of which they are completely unworthy. The easiest thing Io do about any abuse is to pass a law against it. But this is not necessarily the wisest course, especially if the law is diffi cult or impossible to enforce. Passing repressive laws which the Communists, in all pro bability, can easily evade is no subifcitute for the good ci tizenship obligation of op posing and exposing Com munism on the basis of rea soned understanding. No regime in which the people who live under it have lost faith was ever saved by repressive legislation. But Communism will cease to be a serious threat to our Amer ican way of life when a suf ficiently large number of Americans know with their minds and feel with their hearts that our system, with all its faults, is infinitely superior morally, politically, and economically, to any thing totalitarian Commun ism can offer. — From The Sign. IF... When Barnum toured Europe with his circus, he went to pay his respects to the Bishop of London before sailing. “I hope to see you in heaven,” said the venerable cleric. “You’ll see me, if you’re there,” replied Barnum. PERPLEXED by a Parish Priest I am an average priest, a much misunderstood individ ual. People suspect me of be ing a little more than human, but continue to invite me to eat their dinners and drink their wine. If I partake of the latter, they call me a “dear” and a “good fellow”. If I refuse they can claim to be edified. They expect me to have no faults, but keep on search ing for them, and having dis covered a fewi—well! When I have not prepared my sermon and my mind is cloudy and my ideas chaotic, they say I am too deep; but when I have labored with zeal, and memorized my ser mon they say I am super ficial. When through “money talks” I meet my parish obli gations, I am a “money grub ber” ; but when I do not plead for money and my parish goes into debt, I am a "poor business man.” When my liver is out of order and I am physically ill and mentally tired, they say I look pious and saintly. When I am well and bubbling over with zeal, they say I am frivolous. They think I should love everyone in the parish; and when I make a fairly good bluff at doing so they call me a hypocrite, but when I ad mit there are some I am not crazy about they call me a snob. My wealthy parishioners find fault with me if I do not call upon them; the poor ones if I do call on the rich. Some people, in my pre sence, pretend to be keenly interested in all things per AUGUST, 1947 19 taining to religion. They minimize my intelligence and exaggerate their own histrionic ability. The stingy people who con tribute a very, very small proportion of their income to the Church pity me because I have such a hard time, raising funds. Those who contribute generously think I have a very nice job. Some wonder what I do with all my time, others pity me because I have so much to do. They want me to be more of a layman and to represent them in civil activities, but they are forever praising Fa ther So-and-So because he is so “quiet and retiring. He is such a holy man.” If I use forceful and catchy phrases in my sermons they say I am sensational. If I don’t they will not come to hear me. Many seem to think I am a millionaire; canvassers think I am easy; tramps know I am. Now I want to tell the world: That my Roman col lar changes not my human nature. I am quite the same as other men. That I enjoy a good time just as they do, but I prefer to choose my own kind of sport. That a long time ago I got sick of “apple sauce” and “soft soap”. That I have grown immune to knocks and critic ism. That I appreciate honest praise and want no man’s pity. That I am giving the best that is in me to my work and believe that God will re'ward me. That I want no favor and seek only the op portunity to show that I am a real man and try to be a real priest. So there you are. PARTING SHOT One of his parishioners met the priest as he was leaving for a new parish. “Oh Father,” she said, “how we will miss your wonder ful 'sermons.” Slightly flattered, the priest replied: “Never fear, the Bishop will send you another good preacher." “Yes,” answered the parishioner, unconsoled and slightly ab stracted, “that’s what they all say, but the last five have been getting worse and worse.” An Attitude To Life TO HAVE as little as possible to do with the making' of my own career. What God wills, let it be done to me. To be ready, so far as I may, for anything and every thing. For this, to make the best of myself, so far as opportunity allows. There will always be something wanting, always there will be something to be done. To do the duty of each day as it comes, because it is a duty, the gift of God to me, not looking too far into the future, not looking too much for results. Fidelity in the present spells fidelity in the future. If the duty is done the fruit will come. To know that God Almighty and All-loving, is be hind all, with His Hand on every thread, personally in terested, in all things, in me, in His own great design, in that portion of it for which He has particularly made me. To trust Him blindly, knowing well that His vision is more comprehensive than mine, His goal different from, grander than mine. His ways not as my ways but in finitely more sure. To recognize this again and again in my everyday experience; how underneath seeming failure, success i3 constantly attained, my failure His success; of another kind, it may be, from what I had anticipated, but in the end far more real and important. To see how in an instant, He restores or replaces what seems to have ut terly collapsed . . . how for all the ends He has in view the means are always found. Archbishop GOODIER MURDER BY MICROBE WILFRIDO BORJA Twenty thousand Fi lipino? are going to die this year. The murderer will be a ti ny organism, about three-thou sandths of a millimeter in size. Known to scientists as the bacil lus tuberculosis the minute mur derer is a ncd-shaped microbe, slightly bent or curved, and when seen under a microscope after staining, may present a beaded appearance. EXPERIMENTS have shown that the tubercle bacillus in dried spu tum may live for as long as three years if protected from, light. It travels around with the dust. It is found in hospital wards, public .carriages and public buses. If a man sneezes in your vicinity, it may travel down your nostrils and seek a resting place in your res piratory system where it will start to multiply. A child crawling on the floor may pick up the microbes on his hands. And in a few months or years he may be a skeleton of himself because a careless mother failed to wash baby’s hands be fore he started sucking his thumb. The sputum of the tuberculosis victim may travel into your house by way of your own shoes, the hem of your mother’s long skirt; your sister’s slacks, or the hair of your pet dog after a good roll in the dust otf the street You never can tell tuberculosis, and even an innocent kiss may mean mur der if you don’t watch out. TUBERCULOSIS has been called the captain of the men of death The accuracy of the description can be gauged if you consider that as late as 1940 it was listed as eighth among the causes of death in the whole world. It 1900 it was listed as Public Enemy Number One, a position which it still holds in the Philippines. Consider the following facts: 38,000 men, women and children in this country have been carried 21 22 THE CROSS away by the white plague since the liberation. 111.1 out of every 100,000 Filipinos die of the dread ed TB. And for every victim who ends up in the grave, there were 20 more who already have the di sease. The tragic thing about tubercu losis is that it strikes its victims clown usually between the ages of 20 and 35. The fifteen years com prising this span are generally conceded to be the most fruitful in a man’s career. But when the white plague strikes at him with a clammy hand, he becomes a bed ridden patient, a burden on his family and his community. pEDRO REYES is a young stu dent. Out for honors he begins to study far into the night. He de prives himself of the proper fest in order to devote himself to his studies. After a while he senses vague ly that the least exertion tires him out; he feels that he isn’t learn ing as fast as he should and that his workJs becoming shoddy and half-hearted. Perhaps he begins to cough, a dry cough which he really doesn’t notice or, if he does, fails to treat properly. The cough becomes mucopurulent, and he lias to spit in order to relieve his mucus-con gested threat. If Pedro is a wise young man, he will see a doctor. There is nothing really wrong with him—yet. He may merely be suffering from bronchitis ac companying pulmonary lesion. But if he disregards that vague feeling of illness, that dry cough which rapidly becomes mucopuru lent, he may be taking the first step towards a tuberculosis sana torium. He begins to feei feverish some times, getting chills and sweating freely as he tosses about in, ex hausted sleep. He may not lose weight at first; but as that'eough gets worse and these sharp pains keep stabbing at his chest, he be gins to lose weight. Then he begins to notice that his sputum is fleck ed, just a little with blood. Tho roughly disturbed, he goes to the offices of the Anti-Tuberculosis Society in Tayuman, Manila. Here, after a thorough exami nation, his worst fears are con firmed. Doctor Avellana tells him as gently as possible that he has been infected by the white plague, but that, if he follows instruc tions, he can.be cured. By this time, Pedro is so stricken with fear he is willing to do anything to get well. The doctor recommends proper food, fresh air, complete rest. And Pedro’s little world of dreamB falls upon his head. He must dis continue hi? studies; his profes sional career will be delayed. But AUGUST, 1917 23 he is lucky if he gets away as easily as this. He may be married with a wife and children to support. To stop working would be tantamount to condemning his family to death by slow starvation. And further more, who is going to pay for the treatment necessary to set him back on the road to recovery? These questions he must set tle for himself. And usually he chooses to go on working, keeping his grim secret to himself while the tiny microbes continue tearing his lungs to pieces. His disease worsens. He begins to spit blood. Every time he coughs he emits a shower of - microbes that endanger his own family, his friends, his fellow stu dents or employees. And finally, when his lungs can no longer sus tain his body, he has a last he morrhage and drops into the grave. The career of Pedro ends with a spatter of blood. REALIZING that many Filipi nos who are TB victims simply cannot afford what it takes to effect a cure for tuberculosis, the Philippine Anti-Tuberculosis So ciety is waging a campaign to raise P500,000.00 to fight the dreaded white plague. The moqe'y which will be secured from the drive will be used to buy medi cines to secure the nedessary equipment fcr Pneumothorax (col lapse of thc lung) and other me thods which have been perfected to counteract tuberculosis, to buy milk and fresh vegetables for countless TB carriers who must either be helped or die. The money will also be spent in educating Filipinos on the pre vention and cure of tuberculosis. Posters, pamphlets, films, books will be distributed throughout the Philippines, dealing with tubercu losis: how it starts, how spread, how stopped, how cured. For where tuberculosis is concerned, an ounce of prevention is still worth a pound of cure. The history of the world has shown that when education and improved social conditions for the masses can be secured, the death rate from tuberculosis always bogs down. This is especially notable in the United States where the death rate from tuberculosis has gone down to approximately 40 per 100,000 population, a ratio which is only one-third as large as that of the Philippines. A survey of the large cities in the United States has shown that the prevalence of tuberculosis among the Negroes living in con gested slums is eleven times higher than in other sections where the inhabitants have ma 24 TIIE CROSS naged to retain a higher stand ard of living. The same is true in the Philippines; perhaps, the proportion is even higher. During the Japanese occupation a rambling tenement in the Leveriza slum district housed 187 children between the ages of 1 and 18. During the period from 1943 to 1945 eleven of them died from tuberculosis, encouraged by malnutrition, lack of fresh air and the proper surroundings. Slums are always breeding places for tuberculosis; as long as slums remain, the white plague willsalways have a happy hunting ground. As long as poverty and wretchedness persist, the white plague wil continue to reap its victims and the ratio of 111.1 in every 100,000 will not go down. It is becoming increasingly clear that unless the people of the Phi lippines do something about it, tuberculosis will always be one of the costliest hazards which the people of this country must meet. MONKEY BUSINESS “Papa,” said Pepito, “is it true that we are descended from the monkeys.” “Why, of course. Science has proved that man is taken from the mor.key and is going more perfect?’ "Then, Papa, you are mere of a monkey than I am.” Smack! "How dare you call your father a monkey!” ♦ * * * * THOUGHT Five per cent of the people habitually think; fifteen per cent occcasionally think, and eighty per cent would rather die than think. —Eccl. Review THEY DID NOT FORGET THEIR GOD Dominador I. Ilio IN THE DAYS of the oc cupation, the men of the un derground, especially the guerrillas who had their headquarters in the hills, were notoriously branded as “outlaws,” and “bandits” by lhe Japanese, and many of the inhabitants in the occu pied zones believed that it was so. They were portrayed as lawless elements, unprin cipled ruffians, men who dis regarded the conventions of society, who forgot their God. On the contrary, however, it can be maintained that the men who joined the resis tance were they who loved peace and order, who were steadfast in the embrace of the principles of liberty, and who believed that the Al mighty is ever on the. side of the just, the meek and libertv-loving. The men in the resistance did not forget God during those days, perilous and dark though they were. In fact, knowing that they were on the cause of justice, free dom. and peace, they were confident that God was their squad leader. The higher headquarters of guerrilla organizations did not neglect the moral welfare of each and every man either. For as in any military organ ization, there was constituted a service to take charge of it. Taking specifically the Panay guerrilla organization headed by Brig.-Gep. Macario Peralta, Jr., there was in that outfit a unit, the Chaplain Service, which took care of the moral and religious obli gations of the men. There were chaplains assigned for the various regiments of the military organization. 25 THE CROSS So that, it was not uncom mon then during the guerri lla days of masses being said in the middle of the wilder ness, the priest saying the service on an improvised plat form for an altar, tht uni verse for the cathedral, the blue firmament for the ca thedral dome, the huge trunks of trees for the cathe dral columns embellished by nature’s prodigiousness. And the chaplain’s job was just as difficult as an infan tryman’s or an aidman. His weapons were the edifying words, his paraphernalia were as heavy as those of the com mon soldiers. The various units of his organization beinc situated several moun tains away from each other, the priest had to trudge through long mountain dist ances to accomplish his mis sion. A mass is scheduled to h<» said in the bivouac area of “B” Company one Sundew; an invocation is to be deliv ered during the program in a troop school in the 3rd Bat talion on Tuesday, the pa tients in the collecting hos pital will be visited Friday, etc. Nor did the chaplains just stay in the rear areas dur ing combats. When the Panay guerrilleros conducted the allout offensive against the enemy entrenched in Iloilo City in February 1945, the chaplains marched with the men up to the line of depart ure where just before the HHour they gave words of en couragement and helped to bolster up the morale of the men. They visited the men in the trenches, helping the of ficers buoy up the spirits of the soldiers under heavy stress and strain. And when the fight was thickest, they were th'ere, too, at hand to extend words of comfort to the sick and the wounded, and to administer the last rituals on the bodies of them who gave the supremest sacrifice. SAFETY FIRST Renaud, a French Senator, registered at a hotel and paid a month’s rent. The owner asked him if he would take a receipt. “A receipt is unnecessary," said Renaud; “God witnessed the pay ment.” "Do you believe in God?" sneered the hotel keeper. “Most assuredly,” replied Renaud. “Don’t you?” “Mbst assuredly not, Monsieur!” “In that case,” said Renaud, “please make a receipt for me.” V-J Jose Ma. Espino, Jr. We waken from a nightmare of a dream: How brightly through our window pours the light! We look out: there the pearly dewdrops gleam On spray-crowned cornstalks, brightening the sight; And out beyond, a stretch of green, lush plain That nevermore shall sound to roar of gun Or mutely hear the groans of men in pain; And Nature, soon to pardon, has begun To hide each pillbox in a bushy dress And shroud each shell-hole with a cloak of green, A patient mother cleaning up the mess Of her fractious childrens quarrels, harsh and mean. The smoke of gunfire slowly thins away And rage of conflict dies upon the hills; The breathless word, in tremulous relay. Runs down the line and sows its share of thrills; Now foxholed, whiskered soldiers clamber out Like gophers coming up from winter sleep— First growing disbelief, then waning doubt, And then a sigh for feelings far too deep: For they have sampled of the bitter dregs of war And striven through trials never meant for man; Where there's no respite but in dumbly watching water seep into your foxhole. 27 28 THE CROSS No planning farther than the next ditch to dive into, the next clip of bullets, the next tin of meat hash. Where office-clerks and tailors and school-teachers become vicious machines of cunning and hate, Where boyish faces take on a bitter, grim hardness, and smiling eyes are forever lost. Where stretchers hurry by. and the wounded mutter over and over in the dark: my God.. . my God... And you dimly wonder when you'll be next.... But that's all swallowed in the ebbing tide Of painful human tragedies soon forgot; We stand before Almighty God’s just chide To answer for each hasty word and shot, For r£sh employment of his generous gifts, For squandered lives; for grieving, haunted eyes, For souls astray and lost upon the drifts. The victor and the vanquished pay the price: There are no crowns of laurel to receive; There are but rubble, and the solemn sight Of neat, white crosses fading in the eve As one lone sentry challenges the night. Our weary sons and brothers homeward turn. Go out and meet them: let them live anew The laughter and the love for which they yearn. The things they've fought for; happiness long due. Their breasts are gay with ribbons: let those be But markers of a dead and buried past; Each oak-leaf cluster has been paid its fee, Each battle-star a buddy missing last. So let their wounds that rankle quietly heal. And bring to them the candid, easy joys Of sunny porch, a pillow’s downy feel, Of Sunday paper, baby’s cooing voice. Of morning shower, coffee on the stove, The jeweled lawn, the wind that smells of Spring; Lead them down green byways, let them rove Where fish are jumping, plovers on the wing. AUGUST, 1917 29 Where vain clouds eye themselves in mirror-lakes: For ease of heart and mind is swiftest gained In free and honest dailies clear of stakes, In simple things untrammeled and unfeigned. And you: who have been spared the armed grenade. The poised trench-knife, the ready bayonet. The dash from hole to mound, and enfilade: Make doubly sure that there will not be yet Another call for boys from school and farm, From round the cheery fires of Christmas-eve, From twosomes on the porch, lost in a charm; And pray, that those whose reasoned dictates weave The destinies of citizen and state. Are prejudiced by neither vengeful ire Nor righteous indignation or just hate: That those among us who have tapped the fire Of awesome power ours to loose and play. Lose not their prudence, and presumptuous set To tread the pathways of the gods; yes, pray That God "be with us yet —lest we forget"! Make sure you do not sabotage the dreams Of Sammy from Missouri's fruited plains, Of Tony reared by Samar's quiet streams, Of all the Pierres and Ivans, Chans and Waynes From Tatsienlu and Kuibyshev and Leeds, —Yes, even Hans from Duisburg on the Ruhr And Hochii called from Yezo's salmon breeds— Who, cloistered now in silence, ask no more; For stripped of creed and color, breed and birth. All men are one in search of happiness; The sacrifice displays a matchless worth When simple men, with so much to possess. Secure their happiness, and to that end Unshirking yield their precious gift of life. On you devolves the duty to defend The grail that lent a meaning to that strife: Salerno, Iwo lima, Normandy, THE CROSS Remain as beach-heads on uncertain shores; Ardennes and Villa Verde presently Are holjow gains along our sacred course; The strikes of patribt forces everywhere Are heavy blood investments unmatured; Not even yielded sword and broken spur Are guarantees of victory assured; But when the guns are stilled on plain and cape And mighty fleets the seas no longer scour, The crucial battle for the peace takes shape: Will you turn craven on this hanging hour? Have you stood to watch the sunlight fade On a gentle slope where white wooden crosses and plain metal tags Etch a geometric symmetry on the jagged muddledness of human blunders? A tense wind rushes up; It is a wind drawn from cool hills and uncharted wastelands. From immense waters and torn beaches and furied ground. It sweeps through the white crosses and brushes your cheek; And borne on that wind is a voice: The voice of men who are but long lists on monotonous files. The voice of unsung heroes of forgotten battles fought in hidden places. And it says: You cheered us when we stood And you praised us when we fell At Bataan ... Warsaw ... Changteh... Stalingrad Dunkerque ... Wake . . . Bastogne ... every where; You gave medals and made promises; Will you stop there? AUGUST, 1947 31 We had as much right as you to live; Show us That at those moments It was a greter privilege to die. Everything as yet seems senseless; Only you, now, can give it meaning. You must. August, 1945 END THE TRUTH ABOUT TRUTH The terrible thing about the truth is that when you look for it, you always find it. One could not find a more appalling illustration of the prostitu tion of truth, honour and morality than is seen in the press. —John L. Stoddard This alone truth sometimes craves, that it be not condemned un heard. —Tertullian THAT BEARDLESS MAN At a public dinner a speaker spoke for half an hour and looked like going for another thirty minutes. A guest turned to a woman next to him and remarked: “Can no thing be done to shut this man up?” "Well, responded the other cheerfully and frankly, “I’ve tried for fifteen years.” Vart Hem. (ROSS SECTIONS of FILIPINIANA QUEER CUSTOM Father Francisco Aguila tells of a queer marriage custom in his little island parish of Tingloy— an island just off the coast of Bauan, E-atangas. During the mar riage ceremony the groom steps on the toes of his bride and el bows her on the ribs. All this— to show that from now on she will be subject to him. Often however, the bride sur prised at the indignity, elbows back—and an early marital row is in the offing. ALL MEN ARE... I once told the story of Ananias and Sapphira to my Catechism class. One little youngster asked why God did not punish all liars as He did these two. I asked a volunteer to answer the difficulty. A little boy stood up and said: ‘‘If He did, maybe there wouldn’t be anybody left.” M. Manapat Meycawan, Bulacan TOO MUCH SILENCE A Bishop from up North is famous for his wit. Oncte one of his parish priests wrote him to “please come and spend a quiet day in my parish.” The Bishop declined: “Your parish does not need a quiet day. What your parish needs is an earthquake." Jose Ma. Luna Vigan, Ilocos Sur =>**♦*♦ TOO CAUTIOUS The same witty Bishop de scribed the kind of preaching in dulged in occasionally when the congregation is made up of ben efactors, or people “not to be of fended:” “Brethren, unless you repent, in a measure, and be con verted, as it were, you will, I re gret to say, be damned, to some extent.” SHORT AND POINTED A smart (?) newspaperman once jokingly asked a priest, for an "interview about hell." He said he was ^oing to publish the 32 AVGUST, 1947 33 interview in their Tagalog maga zine. The priest, not at a loss for an answer, replied: "Hell, in my opinion, is the place -where your magazine should be printed.” ROADSIDE THEOLOGY Old Juan sat by the road break ing stones for a new road. Our parish priest passed by and said: “Well, Juan, that pile of rocks doesn’t seem to get any smaller.” “You’re right, father,” replied the old philosopher. “These stones are like the Ten Commandments. You can go on breaking them, but you can’t get rid of them.” Antonio Mayo Baguio City LOSING ONE’S HEAD During the days of surrender in Bataan, my friend Gus, was appointed to approach the enemy camp to negotiate our surrender. We had some twenty Japanese prisoners, so our CO assured him: “If they kill you, these twenty Japs will lose their heads.” “I don’t doubt it,” Gus re torted, “but npt one of them will fit on my shoulders as well as my pwn.” F. Soliman Arayat, Pamp. ONE MAN CHOIR Our town is one of the many blessed with a one man choir,— and an old man at that. He plays the organ and sings all sorts of church songs and his voice comes —from his tongue] Well, this choir master of ours insists on bowing whenever the name “devil” is mentioned during the sermons. I once asked why he always bowed when he heard the name of the devil and he an swered: "Well, civility costs nothing, and you never know what will happen next.” Lucas Navarro 1895 P. Leoncio THE EGGS AND THE BISHOP One day His Excellency Bis hop Luis del Rosario of Zamboan ga arrived from Manila with a dozen “baluts” in his valise. Non chalantly he handed them to his housekeeper with the words. “I bought some eggs for din ner.” When dinner time came, the good bishop looked in vain for the eggs. His housekeeper innocent ly and smilingly replied: “I hope you’d try to buy good eggs next time, your excellency. The ones you bought were in that stage when the chick could al most chirp "come and eat me.” I threw them away.” Alberto Cruz F.E.U. Commerce What's Your Moral I. Q.? Forbidden Reading 1. May one read all books that are not explicitly forbidden by the Church’s Index of Forbidden Books? 2. What is meant by “books forbidden by the natural law”? 3. Tomas, a high-school student, receives a seven-page letter from his atheistic uncle. It is entirely devoted to attacking the Church with clever and insidious arguments. Does Church law, natural law, or both prohibit Tomas from reading the letter? 4. A certain lascivious novel is a proximate occasion of sin for Maria, seventeen-year old senior. Is it necessarily forbidden to Maria’s older married sister? 5. LES MISERABLES by Victor Hugo is expressly forbidden by the Church. Alfredo says it would not cause him the slightest tempta tion to read it? Is he therefore exempt from the prohibition? 6. Pablo, a college student, reads books defending birth control and mercy killing in order that he may “l£arn the opponents’ argu ments.” Is this permissible? 7. Is It forbidden to attend a movie based on a forbidden book? 8. Is it always a mortal sin to read any part of a book prohibited by the Church? Why? 9. Josefina’s literature book contains excerpts from the forbidden hovels of Hugo, Emile Zola, Anatole France, etc. Must Josefina skip these selections? 10. What does it mean to say that a book has an IMPRIMATUR? (Answers on page 36) 34 What Kind of a Theologian Are You? Give yourself 10 points for each of the questions which you ans wer correctly. If you score 95-100, give yourself an SCL (summa cum laude) ;90-95, an MCL (magna cum laude) ; 85-90, a CL (cum laude) ; 80-85, a BP (bene probatus) ; 70-80, a P (probatus) ; 0-70 NP (non probatus or flopperoo). Dogma Quiz on Creation . 1. Is it of divine and Catholic faith that the world and all things which are contained in it, both spiritual and material have been in their whole substance produced by God out of nothing. 2. The world was created (a) by the Father alone; (b) only by God the Father and God the Son; (c) by God the Father, God the Son, the Holy Ghost. 3. God created the world (a) to increase His happiness; (b) to ac quire perfection; (c) to manifest His perfections. 4. Is it heretical to maintain that the world was not created (a) freely; (b) out of goodness; (c) in time; (d) for the glory of God. 5. Catholics must hold that the first chapter of Genesis gives a com plete and scientific account of the exact order in which things were produced by God. 6. Is it certain that all existing men are descended from Adam and Eve? 7. The Bible 6ays that (a) the earth is not more than 50,000 yeairs old; (b) man is less than 5,000 years old; (c) man is not more than 25,000 years old. 8. Is it absolutely certain that (2) the souls of Adam and Eve were immediately created by God; (b) the body of Eve was formed by God from Adam; (c) the body of Adam did not arise by way of evolution from the animal kingdom? 9. Is it most probable, however, in the light of all present evidence, that the body of Adam did not originate by way of evolution? 10. May a Catholic maintain that if the proof were forthcoming to morrow that the body of the first man was evolved from the lower animals, it would not be found to contradict any solemn, ordinary, or official teaching of the Church? (Answers on page 36) 35 36 THE CROSS MORAL QUIZ ANSWERS 1. No. Books that are proximate occasions of sin are also forbidden by the natural law. 2. This refers to books not necessarily prohibited by an explicit law of the Church, but nonetheless forbidden because by their very nature they endanger one’s spiritual health. 3. Church law does not deal with such things as letter in treating for forbidden literature, but if the letter would be a proximate danger to Tomas* Faith he would be forbidden by the natural law from reading it. 4. It is forbidden only if it is a proximate occasion of sin for the older sister. 5. No. Books forbidden by positive Church law bind all Catholics'Cven though in an individual case the book would not be dangerous. 6. No. Books against morals are forbidden by positive Church law which is binding on all Catholics. 7. Not necessarily. Only if the movie itself is forbidden by the natural law or some other positive law of the diocese. 8. Not always a mortal sin, but always at least venial. Because ac cording to the nature of the books, one may read a greater or less portion without sinning seriously. 9. No, since the literature books usually contain selections from these authors which are not harmful. 10. It means that the book has the stamp of ecclesiastical approval. The word is latin for “it may be printed.” Adapted from The Queen’s Work DOGMA QUIZ ANSWERS 1. Yes. 2. a—No. b—No. c—Yes. 3. a—No. b—No. c—Yes. 4. a—Yes b—Yes. c—Yes. d—Yes. 5. No. 6. Yes. 7. a—No. b—No. c—No. 8. a—Yes. b—Yes. c—No. 9. Yes. 10. Yes. Adapted from The Queen’s Work "YOU, OF COURSE BEING A CATHOLIC ... Arnold Lunn • ‘‘She was only eighteen when she married and she didn’t know what love was until she met Bob by, so they had an affair. You, of course, being a Catholic, will think that wrong.” “Why ‘As a Catholic’? Your Protestant mother would be pret ty cross with you for" implying that the prejudice against adul tery is a Romish innovation.” My friend looked puzzled. “Oh! I suppose you are right, but you people make much more fuss about that kind of thing. It doesn’t seem to me very Christ ian to be so intolerant. After all Christ said: 'Her sins are forgiv en her because she loved much!’ ” —a favorite quotation with those who find" it convenient to forget ■what Christ said about impurity and who have never bothered to discover the context of these words. It was not because the sinner had loved those with whom she sinned, but because she had repented and loved Christ, that her sins were forgiven her (Luke 7:47) Christ did not say to the woman taken in adultery "go and In proportion as those who still describe themselves as Christian reject the traditional Christian doctrines on faith and morals, the word Christian is losing all trace of its original meaning, with re sults which Catholics are not alone in deploring. "It will really be a great nui sance,” writes Mr. C. S. Lewi's, if the word Christian becomes simply a synonym of good, for historians, if no one else, will sometimes need the word in its proper sense and what will they do ? ... The other day I had the occasion to say that certain peo ple were not Christian; a critic asked how I dared to say so, being unable (as of course I am not) to read who profess belief in the specific doctrines of Christianity.” My critic wanted me to use the word in what he would call a far deeper sense, so deep that no human observer 37 THE CROSS could tell to whom it applies (Spectator, September 22, 1944) In proportion as the word “■Christian” loses all its original significance, Catholics will find that they will be scolded for their fidelity to doctrine which were once the common heritage of Ca tholics and Protestants. In my controvery with Dr. Joad (Is Christianity True?) he devoted a vigorous letter to an attack on the Christian doctrine of hell, and was shocked and surprised when I reminded him that we owe this doctrine not to the Church (which he was attacking) but to Christ, whom he revered. Indeed he ex pressed regret that I should ad vertise the fact that one for whom he professed such respect should have originated so deplorable a doctrine. The,late Dr. Coulton, Who was not as ready as Dr. Joad to con cede a point, merely relapsed into silence when again and again in our book, Is the Catholic Church Anti-Social?—which should have appeared before this article is in print—I drew his attention to the fact that he was, in effect, at tacking the Catholic Church sim ply for her fidelity to the teach ing of Christ. He complained, for instance, that St. Thomas Aquinas conitrasts the “few” who shall be saved with the "very many” who shall be damned. But Christ’s statement, taken verbally, seems scarcely less severe: "Wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in there at: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matt. 7:13, 14). Again, he wrote: "In the Mid dle Ages everything tended in theory to the salvation of souls.” How medieval! Almost as medieval as Christ. He continued: "The or thodox thinker looked first, sec ondly and lastly to the salvation of souls, as outweighing unques tionably all prosperities of princes or states; and so it must always be with any Church which follows the medieval eschatology.” It was not a medieval pope . who said: “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain (he whole world; and lose his own soul?” Even more significant was Dr. Coulton’s reluctance to define what he meant by the word “Christian,” and this in spite of the fact that he began our book by demanding a clear definition "of the two most important words in this thesis, ‘Catholic Church.’ ” But all my efforts, efforts which provoked complaints of my “per tinacity,” failed to elicit any state ment of the doctrines which Dr. Coulton holds to be de fide for a AUGUST, 1947 39 man who claims the Christian name. “In fact,” I wrote, you reject all the characteristic Christian beliefs, the claims which Christ made and the miracles whereby He gave proof of those claims, the doctrines which He enjoined on His dis ciples. If I have done you an injustice in assuming that you are a Unitarian, you may cor rect me before I excercise my right to wind up this discussion. To my question whether “Unit arians are members of Christ’s Church,” Dr. Coulton answered: “I answer emphatically, Yes.” “ ‘When I used a word' Humpty Dumpty said in a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more noi- less.’ ” An interesting article appeared in the Anglo-Catholic Church Times for December 15, 1944. The article, which was an attempt to discover that “nominal Christ ians” believe, was based on sev eral thousand questions asked ■about religion by members of the Services. "Time and again,” says the author, I have met men and women who regard themselves as nominal members of a Christian deno mination either Anglican or Nonconformist, and yet have denied that Jesus Christ was the son of God . . . Few such critics show any sign of know ing that their heretical views place them outside the tents of the faith they claim to hold. And he points out that the Churches which claim thousands of nominal members in the Ser vices ignore the fact that many of their adherents repudiate cate gorically essential doctrines. They are self-styled Trinitar ians with Unitarian convictions. Here is one of the fundamental reasons why the churches re main empty — why this huge army of young people never show any desire to enter the House of God. (Bolds mine). Why do people who repudiate all the characteristic Christian doctrines cling so tenaciously to the Christian name? First of all, Christianity is still the establish ed religion in England, and it re quires real conviction to exchange the great cathedrals with their hallowed associations for Unitar ian chapels. The man who de scribes himself as Christian does not feel an outsider on national days of prayer and thanksgiving. He belongs. Westminister Abbey is his Abbey. (It was once ours.) Secondly, the word “Christian” is coming to be an indication, not of doctrine but only of certain moral qualities. “Christian morality” is the kind of morality which the man who uses the term happens to admire. We have even been 40 THE CROSS assured that the Russian Com munists are genuine exponents of practical Christianity. Thirdly, an anti-Catholic propagandist can un fortunately count on the support of old-fashioned Protestants if he is careful to conceal the fact that he does not accept the basic dog mas which all Protestants once accepted. Non-atholics may be divided into those who feel that they have more in common with a camouflaged Unitarian who at tacks the Church than with Ca tholics and those who instinctive ly rally to our side when we are attacked. My own guess is that the traditional type of Protestant is drawing closer to us in propor tion as Unitarianism gains ground in Protestant communions. But it is difficult to see what can arrest the erosion of Unitarianism ex cept divine authority. —From America. FOR ADULTS, TOO A priest reproached one of his parishioners: “You are not a good Christian. You do not practice your religion.” “How can you say that,” answered the man aggrieved. "I always send my children to Mass.” “Yes, that’s wrong.” “What? It is wrong for me to send my children to Mass?” “Yes. You should not send your children to Mass, ^ou should accompany them.” YOU TAKES YOUR CHOICE A prominent official of the government met a humble priest and decided to have some fun with him on the subject of religion. He choose as his subject confession. "Father, I never go to confession for the very simple reason that I never commit any sins.” "My dear sir,” answered the priest: “I know only two classes of people who never commit sins. They are those who have not yet at tained the use of reason and those who have lost their reason.” LAZIEST MAN A contest was held for the laziest man of a certain state. With out much ado, he was discovered and elected. The judges found him in bed. “John, you won the contest for being the laziest man in our state.” “Yuh? What’s the priae?” “$10” “Uh, alright roll me sidewise and place it in muh pocket” CURE FOR MORAL BANKRUPTCY LORENZO TANADA LAST MARCH BEFORE the Rotarians in Baguio, I talked about the moral situation then obtaining in our country. I spoke of our apparent moral bankruptcy, as shown by graft in high as well as in law places, — graft in legitimate and illegitimate pursuits. I talked of the alarming increase of criminality, especially here in Manila, — of murders for a handful of pesos, of child gangsters and educated swindlers, of dishonest contractors, unfaithful guards, approachable managers and bribable public servants. Today, the moral situation of the nation still remains alarming. I should like to reach the root of the matter, to find if all this can be blamed on war alone. Time and again you must have asked yourselves as thoughtful students and keen observers of contemporary scenes and events why criminality is on the increase. Is it because of laxity in the en forcement of law and order, or it because lacking in self-control, some of us just can not help do ing the things that we do? Hardly a day passes that the metropolitan papers do not pub lish something politically or so cially unsavory, something that makes the man in the street won der if our society has not lost its moorings and is now drifting toward the maelstrom of perdi tion. You too must have won dered why the spirit of greed for luxury and lavish living that craved satisfaction even at the ex pense of all conscience and all honor is so predominant nowa days. 41 <12 THE CROSS What can be the reason? Has anything gone wrong with us as a people? Have our moral values been debased, as some quarters charged beyond redemption, or has our sense of them bden dulled to the point of insensibility? If we answer in the affirmative, —and there are those who would, though qualifiedly — other ques tions logically suggest them selves: What has caused such a sudden and radical change in our concept of right and wrong, hon esty and dishonesty, and in our attitude toward crime and the criminal? Is the war entirely res ponsible for it? Let us express the point dif ferently: What has so ruthless ly sapped our moral fiber that we appear to have lost those superb and admirable virtues that dis tinguished our forbears? Why have we become so materialistic in our views that the finer things of life, those qualities and achieve ments that make men and nations truly great, have ceased to have any attraction or meaning to us? I ask these pertinent, if un pleasant and disturbing, questions not in the spirit of flippancy or of criticism. My sole object, as I have stated, is to diagnose with you the symptoms as they, appear to us and, if possible to apply some remedy or suggest its ap plication to the authorities con cerned. Education And the more I ponder over and probe into our present mor al disintegration, the more I doubt whether we can blame it all on the war. I am inclined to believe that the present deplorable moral condition of the nation may be traced to our deficient education. It is truly said that the foundation of every state is the education of its youth. When, therefore, the education is defec tive, the foundation must' neces sarily be defective too. It was President Quezon who said: “Na tional strength can only be built on character. A nation is nothing more or less than its citizenry. It is the people that make up the nation and, therefore, it can not be stronger than its component parts. Their weakness is its fail ings, their strength its power.” The trouble with our education al system, before the war and at the present time, is that it is mostly concerned, with educating the mind. I believe no education is complete if it only trains the mind but not the heart. Learn ing, in the mind of an unprinci pled man is as dangerous as a dagger in the hands of a maniac. Arithmetic will teach a man to count and compute, but will also make it easier and faster for him to cheat. Reading, and writing will enable a person to express his thoughts more clearly and easily, AUGUST, 1947 43’ but will also give him the facili ty to deceive and beguile his fel lowmen., The arts and scienoes will make a citizen a more learned man, but they will also equip him more efficiently for evil and wrong doing. Learning therefore, should always advance hand in. hand with goodness; for, once goodness is left lagging behind, learning loses its rudder, its guid ing hand, and becomes dangerous. And the most effective, if not the only effective way of instill ing goodness in our people is by means of religious instruction. While it is true that “Good Man ners and Right Conduct” is a prescribed subject in our schools, I believe that the same is impo tent to instill goodness in our youth. The trouble with the subject, “Good Manners and Right Con duct,” is that it is solely and pri marily a training of the mind, like all or almost all the subjects in our schools, and not a training of the heart. It gives a student certain mottoes and principles which he is required to memorize and recite in class. But it is a subject that does not appeal or take root in the heart. It adds truisms to the memory, but does not touch the feeling nor mould the conscience. I believe goodness can never be developed that way. Goodness does not come merely from the mind, for even the most hardened criminals know, in their minds, that they are doing wrong. Good ness is something that must be bred and developed in the heart and in the conscience. Goodness is that which prevents us from wrongdoing, not only because we know it is wrong, but because we feel it is wrong. It is this feeling, this inner conscience, that the subject of “Good Manners and Right Con duct” can not reach. Only reli gion, with the inspiration and faith it excites, can instill real goodness in our youth. President Frank Sparks of Wa bash College, Indiana, who has been attracting attention by his innovations in the methods of pre paring students for work has made religion a compulsory sub ject in the freshman year. He was criticized at first, but after a while his bitterest critics had become his staunchest supporters. In explaining his system of religious instruction, President Sparks said: “We force no doc trine down our students’ throats. We merely introduce them to the history of religion, the history of the Bible and the application of Christian principles to our econo mic, social and political prob lems.” THE CROSS But, sad to say, the teaching or religion, even along the line fol lowed by President Sparks, is not given in our public and secular schools. So that while our Cons titution provides for optional re ligious instruction in schools, the provision is a* dead letter insofar as actual teaching is concerned. I know that in advocating reli gious instruction in our schools I am treading on dangerous grounds. I know that therfe are some who would call me old-fas hioned for advocating religious instruction in our public and pri vate schools,—but if to be old-fas hioned is to advocate an idea which is rejected merely because it does not sound modern and fas hionable, but which I honestly be lieve is the remedy to (extricate our people, our youth especially, from the present apparent bank ruptcy in our sense of righteous ness and morality, — then let those people call me old-fashioned. I know that those opposed to re ligious instruction in our schools may say that there are practical difficulties that would be met in carrying out this idea because of the many different religious groups in the Philippines. It is true that there are many differ ent religious sect» in our country but it is also true that the major ones can be counted on the fingera of one hand. Undoubtedly, there will be difficulties, but we have I believe enough men who are con versant with educational proces ses who can devise the necessary means to carry this out. Besides, what good work can be accomp lished without first surmounting difficulties? There will be defects, but what is perfect in this world? There will be objections and criticisms, but can we ever achieve anything worthwhile if we let objections and criticisms stop us at every turn? I, therefore appeal to our school authorities and educators to give this matter immediate and serious consideration. For I do not believe we can raise and main tain an enduring structure of na tional welfare, material though it be upon the shifting foundation of moral decadence. No .material re habilitation lags so far behind. And moral rehabilitation can be accomplished only by actually giving religious instruction in our schools. If we do not give our youth the education that will make them honest, truthful cou rageous and God-fearing, we may be sure that our men of tomor row will be found wanting in in tegrity and moral rectitude, and instead of building a great nation we shall have built a nation un worthy of our martyrs and pa triots. LITTLE BOY IN POLKA DOTS Mercedes Mercado JOSELITO MAINIS was only four years old when I first saw him running down the streets with his pants off, his lit tle buttocks jiggling merrily as he ran with his big sister in full pur suit. Caught and brought to iny ca techism class for the first time, he was superbly logical: his trousers irritated his tender skin (they were made from discarded flour sack, probably looted from the 'American Army depot near the Rizal Memorial Stadium, its contents long sold or eaten). That was all. Looking up at me with his dark, serious eyes, he explained with the touching simplicity of Children that he had run away, not because he did not want to learn his catechism, but simply because going to class meant put ting his trousers on, and he de finitely did not want to put his trousers on. I gave him permis sion to come to class without any trousers—as long as he wore his big brother’s undershirt. And that was how he came to class from that day on. My experience with Joselito were either extremely funny, or extremely pathetic. In the first place I was always “chicher” to join him; his lips could never say “teacher.” That first day in class I asked him: “Do you know how to pray, Joselito?” I could swear he was grinning from ear to ear as he stood up eagerly. “Opo, chicher,” he said. “Inglis, chicher.” Then, without any further ado, he began: “Awer pader, hu artim heben, helod be dai nem, dai kindomcam. Helmery, pulogres, da Lord is wides, blsesedaw mong wimen en blesprutdoai worn Geesus...” By that time I was laughing so hard the tears were running down my cheeks. 45 46 THE CROSS He stopped and looked at me, his eyes widening with disap pointment. “Wrong ba ho, chich er?” Then as if to absolve him self from all blame, he continued in Tagalog, “You know chicher, I don’t think my mama knows her prayers; she taught me that." To Joselito when he first came into my class, the three Divine Persons were “Hesus, Mareea, Santo Tokayo.” I wondered at first who Santo Tokayo was until he himself enlightened me. “Santo Tokayo,” he explained to me very patiently, like an old man teach ing a backward child, “is San Jo selito.” That was Saint Joseph to him. Once I asked him who his first parents were. “The father and mother of my father and mother,” he answered with astonishing lo gic. Further questioning brought more fruitful results. “Si Adan at si Cueba,” he said proudly. Then he wanted to know the difference between Cueba and the “cueva” in which Jesus was born, “Were they the same?” he asked me. I was speechless. The Children’s Mass in the Ma late Church was the biggest event in Joselito’s week.. For that he had a pair of red trousers and a little white camisa de chino with red polka dots which were sacred to that event. As soon as the lit tle bell I had broke the stillness of the Sunday lull over Leveriza, he would come rushing out of the house, breakfast or no breakfast, and ask me were we going to the church already? Holding my lit tle finger solidly in one firm lit tle hand, he would insist on ac companying me around the neigh borhood, ringing the bell with gusto. “Pamboy,” he would call to. a neighbor of his, a little boy who was so called because of two pro minent front teeth that were all his mouth showed when he grin ned, “Sano ka, antukin pa.” (You are no good, also a sleepyhead) And Pamboy would rush out of the house, still pulling his shirt on and demanding how that could be when he had spent half the night (so he always claimed) waiting for the teacher to ring the bell. As I remember, Joselito and his friend Pamboy were two children who never missed Sunday Mass, Together they would sit in church quietly, disturbing their silencB only why Father Monaghan war always reading from a book, un like “chicher who- could say her prayers without any book at all. “I think,” Joselito would tell me on the way home, “you know more than the priest does.” You must really be great, I told myself. There are many other incidents, other statements Joselito made, AUGUST, 19-17 ■17 which I think I shall always re member. But from tho host memoires which he has given me, I shall always remember the time when after a year of teaching, the children were ready to make their First Communion. There was no doubt in my mind at all that Pamboy would make the grade; he was already seven at the time and knew more than enough to satisfy the taste of Father Monaghan, the genial Columban who a year later was to meet death at the hands of the Japanese military. But Joselito was a different case. Though he knew his prayers and his catech ism as well, he was not yet six years old and it seemed to me that he had not grown an inch taller since that memorable day when I had first seen him run ning, trouserless, down the street. He passed the test all right. But when I was leaving to take the children home, Father Mo naghan called me aside and told me: “I’m afraid that little boy in polka dots can’t make his first Communion yet; he’s too young. I think we had better wait until ■ext year.” I pleaded with him, of course, telling him that the child knew his prayers and his catechism; that he was a precocious child and even at his age had a distinct sense of what was right and what was wrong. But he was adamant “I'm sorry,” he told me, “but the child must wait.” I remember how hard it was for me to explain that to Joselito and watch exquisite sadness, which only children can feel, creeping into those big eyes of his. But why, he asked me, couldn’t he make his First Communion? He knew as much as Pamboy did and Pamboy was going to make his. “Joselito,” I told him, “do you remember how I told you that when Jesus was a little boy and helped Santo Tokayo make chairs and tables, he was able to carry only little pieces of wood because he was so little?” “Yes, chicher,” he nodded at me. “Well,” I continued, "F i r s.t Communion is like that. It’s like a big piece of wood that you can’t carry unless you grow big and strong first. You are still a small boy. Next year you will be big ger and you will be able to carry a big piece of wood. Then you will be able to make your First Communion.” Slowly the sadness crept away from his eyes, leaving them clear and playful once again. “Chi cher,” he said, “I will tell Tatay to let me carry the big pieces of firewood. Next year you will see. I will be as big and strong as Fa ther Monaghan.” I never saw Joselito again after that. As the American advance l« THE CROSS neared Manila, 1 left Joselito and Pamboy and all the other children, and went to the province. After the Liberation I met Joselito’s sister and she told me that he had died of meningitis shortly before the Americans entered Manila. But that does not mean that I have forgotten Joselito. Somehow he has become a part of the meaning of Catholic Action as I see it. Catholic Action has ceased to be a mere definition. It has become the dark eyes of a child, looking at me with sadness, try ing to understand the muddledhcadedness of adults that makes them keep the simple joy of First Commu-ion away from a little boy, not because he lacks faith or understanding, but merely because he is young; it has become a figure running, pantless down the street, not because he doesn’t want to learn his catechism but because he doesn’t want to wear any trousers; it has become the exquisite sadness and the mis chief-eyes and the polka-dots of a little Boy’s shirt who had to wait till Heaven to become one with His Lord. One evening Henedina approached her father and asked: “Papa, is God dead?’’ “No, my dear, why do you ask?” “Because you never talk to Him anymore at night like you used to.” ***** JUST LOOKING The Cure D’Ars noticed that one of his simple parishioners re mained motionless for hours in front of the tabernacle. “What are you doing at such a time?” the priest asked him. “I just look at Jesus, Jesus looks at me.” Philippine Modern Day Saint Adapted from REAL LIFE STORIES Edited by Father Winifrid Herbst, S.D.S. //k J OTHER,” I am almost, conIVI vinced she is a saint, and I do hope the Philippines will soon have one.” These are the beautiful words that were written by a friend of Arceli Tanedo soon after her death. Arceli, whom we shall cal! Lily, was born in Manila on May 16, 1920, and died in Baguio on March 18, 1938. So she really lived during your own time. She was the oldest of four children and her father was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Philippine Army. Lily first studied at the Cebu Normal School, and from there she went to the public school in Batangas, where she was found to be. such a bright girl that she "skipped” a grade. From the pub lic school she went to the Mis sionary Belgian Sisters at the high school of St. Louis College in Baguio, where she was grad uated in only three years with the highest honors a student could get. She was then only 14 years old. “A Quiet Girl’’ One incident occurred during her second year which serves to point out the remarkable bril liance of the girl. For her com position on the life and writings of Dr. Jose Rizal she was award ed a prize of twenty pesos. And to shew her kindntss of heart, she gave half of it to her bro thers and the other half to a charitable institution. Lily’s first year in college was spent at the Junior College of Cebu, a branch of the University of the Philippines, where she be came known for her quiet nature and great intelligence^ However, she missed the Sisters and her re ligion very much; so she asked her mother if she could study with the Benedictine Sisters at St. Scholastica’s College in Manila. She was given permission and one year later, at the age of 16, she graduated as valedictorian again. One of her companion-: on-e said of her, “Lily would never act 49 50 THE CROSS smart even though she was the brighest girl in all her classes. When there was a hard problem to be solved, she was never anx ious to raise her hand, but would wait until the teacher called upon her, and then she would give the answer slowly and surely. An instructor in advanced mat hematics said of her, too: “I never saw her downcast or in a bad humor or excited, for instance ... She seemed to understand how to get'joy out of little troubles and crosses. Surely she had, Jesus as a personal Friend... If one saw her at prayer one could not doubt that she was near and dear to Him.” Her piano teacher described her as a girl “with a fine sense of the beautiful.” “When I saw her in the church paying a visit to Jesus, she knelt as immoveable as if she ‘saw’ something.” She continued going to St. Scholastica’s and would surely have received greater honors had she not become sick and* died at the age of 18. For the Lord was to take her, as little more than a child, into His kingdom. Lily may have been a very quiet girl, but when there was something funny, she would laugh as hard as the rest of her class mates. All the while Lily was at school, her mother could hardly wait until vacation when her beloved daugh ter would be home again. But Li ly was kept too busy that she scarcely had time to get her own. work done. She spent several hours each day in the church, teaching religion and holy songs to the little children, and when that was over she would visit the sick and the poor who were al ways sure to welcome her with open arms. During her days in school, Lily told one of the teaching Sisters her secret. It happened while all the children were having a picnic at the seashore. Lily departed from the group and took a walk with the Sister. After they had walked a little way, Lily said: “I am so anxious to finish my studies in order to enter the con vent!" Those few words were all she said; yet they showed a whole life’s ambition. Little did she know that hei- wish was to be granted sooner than she expected. In October, 1937, Lily suffered so much from back pains and high fever that she was forced to go to the school doctor. It was about this time, too, that her father, at the school on business, found out that his daughter was ailing and rushed her to another doctor. The diagnosis was brief: Lily was suffering from tubercu losis. The next month was spent in a hospital; then she was AUGUST, 1947 31 brought to Baguio where, it was hoped, the climate would effect a rapid cure. And so Lily and her mother moved to a cabin among the mountains. A servant arrived from Cebu to attend to the sick girl; then she got sick herself and the mother had to care for two patients instead of one. A short stay in Baguio’s more tem perate climate worked wonders and Lily was soon well and on her feet. Then complications set in and she was forced to go back to a hospital. But even here, sick as she was, her missionary spirit remained restless and she converted a Pro testant nurse who was attending her. A few days before she died, Li ly begged that, should death ac tually overtake her, she would prefer that her face remain un painted. She also requested to be buried in the habit of Our Lady of Lourdes. A blessed blue ■ belt was dispatched from Manila and arrived on. the morning on which Lily breathed her last. On the day of her death, a cer tain widow in Cebu, who had been a close friend of Lily’s during life, prayed to her. While she knelt thus, she saw a beautiful bouquet of white flowers and in the center, a rose. She was a bit frightened at first; then she tried to take them in her hands and they dis appeared. She told everyone that, the flowers were radiant with light and extremely fragrant. Lily’s brothers and sisters could not be immediately notified of her death since their parents were with Lily at that time. So they never knew that their sister had worn the habit of Lourdes when she died. Yet, when one of the servants came home from the Ce bu carnival late that night, a girl in that same habit, with fea tures exactly like those of Lour des, appeared and walked in front of him. Then she walked away towards the stairs and descended, just as had been Lily’s wont in life. The servant tried to touch the beautiful vision, but it disap peared. A Belgian Sister who had been Lily’s teacher believes that Lily went straight to Heaven. She told her pupils that for many years she had been praying for a cer tain favor but that it had never been granted. However, a week aftei- she had prayed to Lily, she obtained the grace. Here is another wonderful thing that happened after Lily’s death. All her life she had suffered be cause her father had never been .promoted in the army, despite the fact that many of his con temporaries had long outranked him. Soon after Lily’s death her THE CROSS mother prayed to her, asking that justice be done. A short time later, when General S. (Lily’s fa ther’s superior) came to Cebu on a visit, Mr. Tanedo went to meet him as the. boat docked. As soon as the general got off the steamer, he greeted Mr. Tanedo with a “How do you do, Colonel”, a rank which Lily’s fa ther had never had. The Philippines has never as yel had the honor of having given birth to a canonized saint. Who knows? Simple Lily Tanedo may yet give her country that honor. SMART GUY The keeper of the seals for Louis XIII one day asked a little boy, “Where is God? Tell me and I’ll give you an orange." “You tell me where He isn’t and I’ll give you two oranges," re plied the little fellow. Said of a mentally lazy man: "He had one thought once. But it soon died of loneliness.” ON LEADERSHIP “The leader for the time being whoever he may be, is but an in strument, to be used until broken and then to be cast aside; and if he is worth his salt, h» will Care no more than a soldier cares when he is sent where his life is forfeit in order that victory may be won. In the long fight for righteousness the watchword for all of us is — spentT and be spent. It is of little matter whether any one-man fails or suc ceeds; but the cause shall not fail, for it is the cause of mankind.” Pres. Roosevelt NATIONAL I-'KONT REIGN OF TERROR Terror reigned in the town of Calapan, Mindoro, as 32 provin cial prisoners staged a jailbreak. The jailbreakers under the com mand of Lt. Romero, a former MP official, overpowered the prov incial and municipal authorities and imprisoned officials includ ing Governor Conrado Morente and Mayor Filemon Samaco. Mil itary police and civilian volunteers finally captured the prisoners after a gun battle. Result: three persons killed, one of them, Lt. Nestor Romero. AIR EXODUS In what is probably the great est air lift in commercial history, 5,000 Filipino laborers were trans ported by air from Manila to Guam. The special flights take 60 men at a load. These Filipinos, many of them former employees of the US Army and Navy, are going to work for Morrison-Knud sen and Brown-Maxon. This com pany holds huge Army and Navy contracts for building Guam into the greatest military base in the Pacific. 53 LIFE TERM Ernest Berg, owner of the Escolta department store bearing his name, was sentenced to life imprisonment and fined P15.000 by the Fourth Division of the Peo ple’s Court. He was found guilty of treason. Berg is a naturalized Filipino citizefi of German birth. Taken aback by the decision, he became nervous and sat wearily as he listened to the sentence. DISSOLVED Four agencies were dissolved as the President ordered the creation of the Philippine Trade Relief and Trade Rehabilitation Administra tion. The agencies dissolved were the National Trading Corporation, the PRRA, the division of pur chasing department at New York. All the buying activities of the government will now be handled By the PRATRA. PRATRA will also deal with the rehabilitation of local trade and the relief of victims of war and other calami ties. HOUSES FOR THE MILLIONS The government, through the National Housing Commission, will shortly manufacture pre-faTHE CROSS bricated houses which will be within the reach of the people. The cement block house factory machinery has already arrived and the President has instructed the NHC to build six sample homes in Quezon City. The houses will be of the bungalow type, with two rooms, sala and kitchen which will be enough for one fa mily. They will cost P2,500 each. YLAC’S POOR The YLAC announced that 1,470 poor children are enrolled in their six YLAC Free Schools for the present schoolyear. In a recent meeting Miss Maria Aurora Que zon, YLAC President, asked that means be exerted to keep up the financial aid given to these schools. REPORTS Vice-President Elpidio Quirino, gave an account of his threemonth diplomatic tour around the world to his fellow cabinet mem bers. Among other things he said that the Filipino does not find any difficuly in his travels in Euro pean countries because the Eng lish and Spanish language which he speaks come in handy in all these countries. The Vice-Pres ident also told of how he was re ceived by His Holiness Pope Pius XII who showed great interest in the P.I. TB DRIVE In a simple ceremony at Malacahan, the President formally opened the Anti-Tuberculosis Campaign by giving his own per sonal contribution — a check for 1’1,000. It is said by TB authori ties that 36,000 Filipinos die year ly of this malady. Aim of the drive is to raise P600.000 for ex penses to combat the spread of tuberculosis. VOICE OF THE POOR Some 4,000 tenants of Nueva Ecija, and Pangasinan, filed a complaint with the Court of In dustrial relations seeking govern ment intervention in the execution of their tenancy contracts with their landowners. The complaint alleges that landowners in Alaminos have refused to enter into written agreement with the ten ants, thus deliberately avoiding compliance with the tenancy law when harvest comes. WATER, WATER, EVERYWHERE... Central Luzon provinces, in cluding Bulacan, Pampanga, Nue va Ecija, Taj-lac and Pangasinan, suffered considerable losses in crops and public works as a result of the heavy rains following the Pacific and China Sea depressions. Provinces sprawled along the Pampanga and the Agno rivers especially suffered from the flood that cover Central Luzon like a pall. Damage to rice crops alone is believed to have amounted to several thousand pesos. AUGUST, 1947 NEGLECTED MAC Residents of Palo, Leyte, re cently showed much concern over the monument dedicated to Gen eral MacArthur at Red Beach, Palo. The statue has been neglected and is now hidden be hind tall cogon grass. Several houses have also been built in front of it thus relegating the marker to the backyard. Palo’s municipal council has presented a resolution to the provincial board and the U.S. army authori ties for immediate aid. The mark er was erected on the very spot where the General first set foot on Philippine soil in 1944. SCHOOL CRISIS Some 375,000 school children are still denied admission to their classes due to the present lack of school. To solve this crisis a total of P12,300,000 will be needed for the organization of some 7,500 ad ditional elementary school classes. So far funds available total bare ly P3,000,000 with which only 1,600 extension classes can be au thorized. AT LAST... The USAFFE back pay bill has been approved by the armed serv ices committee of the U.S. Senate, Some $67,000,000 have been ear marked for P.I. Veterans. Com menting on the approval, Major Gen. Rafael Jalandoni, chief of staff, PA said: “This is an elo quent indication of America's de sire to do justice to the Filipino soldiers who fought during the war.” Meanwhile Major Moore of the PHILRYCOM has released the statement that all Veterans would be paid their due by Dec ember. COURT-SHOW A documentary film was re cently screened as evidence against the Puppet President Jose Laurel, in his trial for treason before the people’s court. The newsreel together with some ma gazines, photographs and record ings were identified by Kazuma Nakayama who arrived in Manila from Tokyo for the sole purpose of testifying in collaboration cases. During the screening, Lau rel was quoted on the sound tracks as declaring: “United with Japan, no other nation in the world can stop the onward march of the one billion peoples of Asia.” INTERNATIONAL FRONT POPE AND LABOR Pope Pius XII recently received fourteen members of the United States delegation to the interna tional labor conference held in Geneva. Said his Holiness: “The Catholic Church always defends the worker against any system which would deny his inalienable rights,” 56 THE CROSS SECRETS THIEF Earnest Wallis was arrested for theft of some of the atomic bomb secrets from Los Alamos. Some 200 photographs and nega tives shov/ing phases-of atom bomb construction and test ex plosions were found in his studio. Many of the pictures were classi fied as "top secrets.” Earnest Wallis is an ex-GI. BARBERS PROTEST Shanghai Barbers issued hand bills July 14 asking all righteous officials, gentlemen, ladies and newspapers to join their chorus of protest against a moving picture depicting a barber seducing a millionaire’s wife. The 2,500 barb ers who protested for four days claimed the film is especially in sulting to their profession. ENGAGED Britain’s Princess Elizabeth was recently engaged to ex-prince of Greece and Denmark Philip Mountbatten, who is a great-great grandson of Queen Victoria. At 26 Mountbatten is bobby soxer’s ideal and a man’s man. Tall, fair haired, blue eyed and with the profile of a classic Greek statue, he has been the object of comehither-looks from Britain’s most glittering debutante as well as from poor wistful girls. 49TH STATE The House' has voted to make the Hawaiian Islands a state and to add a 49th star to the United States flag. The vote was 196 to 133. The bill was sent to the se nate for action. The bill would en able the people of the islands to form a constitution and state gov ernment and be admitted to the union on equal footing with the other states. GERMS TO “FIGHT” Scientists are getting germs to_ “fight” among themselves on the chance that the bout may pay off by producing some medicines use ful for man. This unique match making attempt is only one of the intensive research going on in many countries to try to find new germ combating materials in such microbes as fungi and bacteria. Penicillin and streptomycin it will be remembered were derived from such sources. MATADOR Philippine matador Pepete made a spectacular killing of his bull July 23 in Gijon, Spain. Occasion was a charity bull-fight festival. After failing in his first attempt with his sword he succeeded in making the kill after three tries with his estoc. ASSASSINATED Six members of Bin ma’s "inde pendent cabinet” were killed July 20 by assassins who stormed brazenly into the Rangoon meetAUGUST, 1947 r»7 ing of the officials. The killers machine gunned the men at the meeting in an attempt at mass murder. Six members were killed and the rest seriously wounded. The council guards who tried to intercept the killers when they drove up in the building also were shot. RESCUE One American and thirty seven . Filipino members of the crew have been rescued from the wreck Philippine freighter -Dona Trinidad. The rescue was affected by a Russian merchant vessel, after the Trinidad ran aground on the Nijogan reefs, 100 miles north of Japan’s most northerly island of Hokkaido. A second Russian ship ran aground during an earlier rescue operation. All the members of the crew are re ported safe. CONFESOR RAPS US Senator Tomas Confesor criti cized the United States for “throwing away billions of dollars on Balkan countries which are causing America all kinds of trouble, while charging interest on loans to the P.I. which was crushed while helping to save the world for democracy.” Confesor, who is at present in Washington, also called attention to what he termed the disproportionate at tention paid in Washington to. the explosive situation in the Far East generally and to Philippine affairs in particular. PARASITE FIGHTER Army Air Forces have under production a new type of fighter plane that can be carried in the bomb bay of a B-36 bomber and. launched in midair to fight off enemy attack. This new-type “parasite fighter” is designated as the XP-85. A small plane, the new fighter has a jet engine. Air Force officers claim it could be launched in midair and return to its mother plane. APT RETORT When the German Emperor visited Pope Leo XIII, Count Bis marck tried to follow into the audience chamber. A gentleman of the Papal Court motioned him to stand back, as there must be no third person at the interview. “I am count Herbert Bismarck,” shouted the German, as he strug gled to follow his master. "That,” replied the Roman with calm dignity, "accounts for, but does not excuse, your conduct.” From the Bookshelves: XI OIJR LADY IN THE MODERN WORLD by Daniel A. Lord, S.J., The Queen’s Work 881 pages. Price—six pesos. What has Mary, the Mother of God, to say to the man and wo man faced with modern problems, the difficulties of 1947, the “new morality”? What has she to say of: Love, Purity, Personality, the family, human rights and dignity, social life, marriage, vocation, one’s daily job, tyranny, work, our duty to others, the love of God and Here is the Roman Catholic answer to the many perplexing questions that many half baked newspaper columnists try to give to the credulous multitude. Here, at last, is an authority on our problems. Here is one who understands our problems. For Mary, the Mother of God, is un iquely the woman. And then too, she ”... is intensely modern. We are not in the least surprised when the latest art exhibit shows a Madonna and Child clothed in the garment of midwestern peo ple, their features more beautiful than but very much like'those of the mother and child that live next door. We are not surprised that into our muddled modern life Mary’s virtues come with a freshness and appeal that- catch our approving interest." THE LIFE OF CHRIST by Giu seppe Ricciotti, The Bruce Publishing Company. 7 0 3 pages. Price—fifteen pesos. Aside from the book’s value as a critical and historical contri bution, it is deeply interesting reading as biography. The ■Christ of the Gospels can scarcely be discovered and properly under stood without background and ex planatory information. Here are both the life of Christ and the historical and geographical infor mation. It is a rare book that can satisfy the student and delight the average reader at the same time. THE WOOL MERCHANT OF SEGOVIA by Mabel Farnum, The Bruce Publishing ComAUGUST, 1947 pany. 202 pages. Price—four pesos. In this book on the life of St. Alphonsus Rodriguez, Miss Far num has performed gracefully and thoroughly a triple service of great magnitude. In masterful description she has evoked the colorful and romantic cities of sixteenth and early seventeenth century Spain. She has recon structed the complicated and elusive mosaic of a Saint. She has presented for the first time in popular form a book depicting the life of a Jesuit community toge ther with a classic survey of the first ninety years of the illus trious Society of Jesus. AUGUSTINE’S QUEST OF WIS DOM by Vernon J. Bourke, The Bruce Publishing Com pany. 323 pages. Price—six pesos. More than anything else, this work is a study of St. Augus tine’s phenomenal moral, intel lectual, and philosophical growth from his dissolute youth and his Manicheanism to the end of his earthly days as honored bishop of Hippo and author of the City of God. The Confessions, and more than one hundred other learned literary works. Emphasized, in spite of the scope of the book, are the most important phases of the Augus tinian philosophy. Dr. Bourke ex plains in laymen’s language such vital utterances as the saint’s Theory of Divine Illumination, The Hierarchy of Reality, The Inter-relation of Faith and Rea son, and other metaphysical enig mas. INFORMATION PLEASE AL MANAC 1947, John Kieran, Editor, Doubleday & Com pany, Inc. 1014 pages. Price —four pesos. You can pick up Information Plea'se Almanac a thousand times, and each time find something you did not know before—a fact you need, a useful bit of knowledge. Or, you can sit down and read the book for fun and improveTHE PHILIPPINES AND ADOBO The formal surrender of Japan to the Allied Powers on board the battleship Missouri two years ago was more than a signal that the second world war had been terminated. To the Philippines, in particular, the signing of the docu ment of capitulation marked the end of a dream empire which, for four torture-filled years, had held this country in an iron grip. Those years will be remembered here as a period during which all freedom, grown dear through forty years of democratic tutelage, was held in abeyance: a period of hunger and want and misery which brought out the worst and the best in men. We say it brought out the best in men because the most ordinary Filipinos, who for years had worn the drab garb of mediocrity, rose to epic heights of heroism and thought nothing of sacrificing blood and even life in the cause of freedom. Looking back at V-J'Day, however, how many of us can truthfully declare that as the last shot was fired, we vowed that never again, as long as life endured, would we allow liberty to be trampled underfoot? How many of us told our selves then that the victory, bought with blood and sweat and tears, would be made tangible and remain unsullied? A mere handful. The rest of us merely shrugged our shoulders, occupied ourselves with the task of regaining the flesh that had been lost during the lean days of hunger and of rebuilding. 60 AUGUST, 1947 homes that had been razed to the ground, completely for getting whatever vows we might have made to concretize the liberty that had been regained. We must confess, in all honesty, that liberty has been used in most cases to further purely selfish ends;*and that even the declaration of Philr ippine independence has not aroused in the collective heart that sense of responsibility which should be a corollary to the privelege of freedom. But what, you will ask, has all this got to do with adobo. Simply this. Just as the perfect dish must be com pounded with the most exact amounts of vinegar, pepper and garlic, so is a substantially democratic Philippines com pounded with the most exact proportion of men’s ideals and of ideal men. And just as the addition of foreign condiments will spoil an otherwise perfect dish of adobo, so will the in troduction of graft and corruption and pragmatic methods of thought and of action destroy the very roots of a sound Philippine democracy. The simplest progeny of Juan de la Cruz will readily admit that the system prevailing at present in the Philip pines cannot be considered conducive to the development of a sound Philippine democracy. For Graft is considered the rule rather than the exception, and has borne strange fruit in the anomalies and frauds which continuously make the administration the goat of a free and militant press. Sound principles of government, which should not bow before political expediency, have been made to kowtow to party politics to such an extent that a man’s qualifications to hold public office are gauged, not so much by what he is, as by what he has done, will do or might perform for the benefit of the dominant political party. Filipinos may of course, shrug at individual instances of political favoritism or political craft, excusing them on the ground that “to the victors belong the spoils.” But we wonder if they realize that each governmental sacrilege de tracts just so much more from the substance of a democratic Philippines, substracts just a little more from the collective well-being, and reduces the Philippines to that abject state it occupied during the occupation, when the common people were considered as a serfdom at whose expense a small and 62 THE CROSS powerful clique might and did fatten itself. During the Occupation I had a friend with a certain degree of devil-may-care idealism in his system. His name was Ramon Cabrera. He believed in freedom and thought it •nothing extraordinary that his life shbuld be demanded in its cause. And because he believed in this freedom and be cause he felt that one life more or less did not matter as long as that freedom were regained by his people in the end, the Japanese killed him and buried him in a grave which he had refused to dig, for himself. I had a professor who, in the days before the war, oc cupied himself with matters no more serious than a problem in Physics or a kiss from his wife. And because he believed in that same freedom, they tortured him till he was a ghost of the Teodoro Fernando whom we had known, so horribly mutilated was he with horrible aching sores where his fin gernails had once been lodged. He had no more arms when his family saw him again, stark and cold in death, with no reassurance that his sacrifice would not have been in vain. That freedom for which these two brave men and count less others immolated themselves on a thousand unknown altars—was it freedom fraught paradoxically with corrup tion and greed and avarice? We think not; for surely no sane man would have given up his life for mattery so petty as these. We believe they died for a freedom that was clean and wholesome, a^freedom in which their people would have the privelege of establishing their otfn democracy, unham pered by crooked government and a more crooked official dom. We believe they died for a freedom which carried with it that national responsibility which is part of liberty’s heritage. As the second year after the death of the samurai system of serfdom draws to a close, it behooves us all to look deeply within ourselves and ask whether we have not betrayed the trust bequeathed to us by men like Ramon Ca brera and Teodoro Fernando. It is our task to see to it that the alien elements of selfishness and greed do not complete ly destroy the concept of real freedom in the Philippines, and reduce our adobo to a dish of tasteless meat. —Antonio R. de Joya €J&€>SS OF worn'VIEWS FltOM AN UNKNOWN SENIOR San Carlos College Branch San Fernando, Cebu July 25, 1947 Dear Editors, Although I am only a young, unknown high-school senior, your magazine gives me a highly edu cational reading in our library ... I can do no other thing else but congratulate you. Please con sider the blurredness of my type written letter, which is due to our poor, old typewriter. Yours very sincerely, Genaro E. Tanudtanud Ed: Thank you, Mr Tanudtanud. WOMAN-HATER Hagonoy, Bulacan July 22, 1947 Mr. Editor, What is wrong with Mr. Oso rio’s sparing the rod in his “Aw ful Truth”? I hope he won’t mind the shallow interpretation of some who say he is a woman-hater. True love sometimes is taken for hate. So let him go with his "rub”. Yours sincerely, Em. del Rosario Ed: Mr. Osorio for once missed his usual inspiration. Sure he wont. You’re light. READ AND GLANCE 46 Sulbcan, Sampaloc. July 26, 1947 Mr. Editor, A few days ago, somebody tried to get me to read your ma gazine. He was a very nice, swave fellow and I could not help but promise to skim through the pages M’y opinion, after a cursory glance, is that your magazine is not interesting Definitely not! I will read it 'sometime, maybe, when you begin to publish arti cles that really grip. Delfin Rocha Ed: Your Letter really grips. Apparently you never read, you merely skim thru the pages and glance cursorily. Stick to comics, kid, stick to comics. HAPPIEST MOMENTS Muntinlupa, Rizal July 18, 1947 Dear Editor, I am glad you “scooped” the 63 THE CROSS "Legion Behind Bars”. This mag nificent work of God MUST be known. It may interest you to know that Mr. Jchn Murray, the re presentative of the Legion’s high est official in the world, personal ly visited the Bilibid Praesidium last November 14, 1946, on the occasion of his visit to the Phi lippines. Commenting on this visit to the Bilibid Legionaires, he said it was the happiest moment of his life as a legionary. ■ He claimed the Bilibid Praesidium a real success. This, I believe is the greatest argument against those who might still be prejudiced against the Legion. The Ltegion* has triumphed in Bilibid. Now I ask: Why not in the parish? Yours in Mary, Ruperto T. Pelayo Ed: With Mr. Pelayo, we ask: “Why not?” Bomerang A bishop was being patronized by a millionaire. “I never go to church, Bishop," the millionaire said, "there are too many hypocrites there.” Oh, don’t let that keep you away," said the Bishop smiling. “There’s always room for one more, you know.” If religion and science quarrel, it is because we have neither re ligion enough nor science enough. —Burlington Hawk-Eye. Of all the riches that we hug, of all the pleasures we enjoy, we carry no more out of this world than out of a dream.—Bonnell VILLA SIN SALES COMPANY 2278 Azcarraga, Manila STATIONERY, OFFICE EQUIPMENTS, SALES & REPAIRS Our Service Is For Those Who Want The Best at a Price They Can Afford F. S. F. S. F. S. F. FOR SEA TRAVEL Go Via PHILIPPINE SEA TRANSPORT SAFE • REGULAR • DEPENDABLE Saturdai1 fortnightly at 1 :"•» "’..nV" fro'mPk." North11?! Sr S’ Fvavo Ci-bu for Zamboanga. Colabato, Davao, every S fortnightly. JN(I Cvl»u for ZamlM.nnga. Colabato. 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