The Cross

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Part of The Cross

Title: The Cross
Description: CROSS National Catholic Magazine
Official bi-monthly organ of the KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS in the Philippines, K of C, Gen. Luna cor. Sta. Potenciana St. Intramuros, Manila
Issue Date: Volume IV (Issue No.7) August 1949
Year: 1949
Language: English
Rights
Place of publication: Manila
extracted text: FEATURE ATTENTION: PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES WHY WE’RE “PATAY GUTOM” THE PARADE OF “OOMPH” CORRECTION NO. 2, MR. BALGOS pedro c. lipata BAGUIO’S NEW MORALITY mario gatbonton LISTEN, MR. PRESIDENT leon garcia THE FIGHT IS ON THE IDEAL GIRL HOW BLACK IS “BLACK MARKET" george viomant, cicm CARTOONS BY GAT HEART TO HEART ’<3 "KEEP 'EM FIGHTING" Cebu City Sir: Yes, THE CROSS is superb, too bad it does not come out weekly. Sincerely speaking, it's the only Catholic paper that "hits the spot". And to prove my approval, please send me 100 copies of your latest issue. He shall try to do some campaigning for you. Bill me foe this. Keep ’em fighting. God bless you all. "CROSS" people. (Rev.) Cesar J. Alcoscba Eds: Once more, action speaks louder than words. Father may also bill Heaven ror his campaign. God bless ell "CROSS" readers. "GROWING PAINS" Catarman, Misamis Or. Sir: I hope that the CROSS beyins to yet growing pains. It deserves a wider reading public. Like all magazines of this, type, it makes men think and people don’t like to think. (Rev.) Joseph H. Bittner, S.J. Eds: Yes, father, our baby is slowly growing. Thanks to our subscriber friends — and to God. Someday, we hope — ond pray — it will grow into the fullness of manhood. "TWO PROVED BEST" Lucban, Quezon Sir: I have read two copies of the "CROSS” given me by a priest, a very good friend of mine... It is so far the best Catholic Magazine in'the Philippines and I would like to encourage every Catholic in the Island to subscribe to the “CROSS". Agapito A. Aquino Eds: For the information of "every Catholic in the Islands", Mr. Aquino.Jun like Politicians) did not stop at preaching. He subscribed. AUGUST. 1949 "PRIDE" — WITH PREJUDICE Manila Sir: Prof. Zafra's "PRIDE" — WITH PREJUDICE is devastatingly good. He has proved beyond cavil that Palma’s arguments do not hold water. I am beginning to wonder why Mr. Ozaeta is getting all the laurels for the book. He merely translated it, but his name equals, and even over shadows the author's name. He gets all the publicity and does all the autographing. Of course, Palma is dead. But... well, well. Mauricio Jimenez Eds: WELL. WHAT A RELIEF! Manila Sir: What a relief to see the Cross put on a new cover! Frankly your last cover got me bored stiff. Your Rizal cover wasn’t very artistic — but it was striking. Very striking. Delfin I,apus Eds: Whenever anybody starts getting "bored stiff", with any page in the "CROSS", by the beard of Moses, write and tell us. "LOAFERS" San Fernando, Pamp. Sir: There's a rather funny mistake on page 5 of the CROSS, July issue. The editorial writer says: “There are certainly tens of thousands of these loofers in government jobs." I’m sure loofers was really loafers. Right? On page 15 Rizal is made to believe in the “immorality” of the soul. That’s “immortality", right? Ruben Miranda Eds: Right. To proofreader: You haven't joined them loafers (get that straight) — we hope! BY GAT! Lipa City Sir: I’m glad to know that Chronicle’s GAT has also injected some of his delicious humor into your mag. Has he got “freedom of the brush" in the CROSS? I know some of his cartoons in Chronicle wont do for the CROSS. Lolita Brillantes Ede: GAT enjoys the greatest "freedom of the brush" under God's law in the CROSS. AUGUST, 1949 Vol. IV No. 7 NATIONAL CATHOLIC MAGAZINE Regina Bldg., Escolta, Manila, Philippines TABLE OF CONTENTS editorial*: Pius XII Bans Commies....................... 3 Attention: Presidential Candidates ... 5 Why We're "Patoy Gutom"................ 7 When Women Fight ............................ 7 The Parade of Oomph ......................... 8 We are the Music Makers.................. 9 articles Correction No. 2, Mr. Balgos—Pedro Lipata .............................................. 11 Baguio's New Morality—M. Gatbonton 13 How Black is Black Market — George Vromant .......................................... 15 Listen, Mr. President — Leon Garcia. 17 The Ideal Girl — by an "AB"............ 21 It Only Happens in the Movies — E. Molina ............................................. 24 Mr. Politico: Genius — Dr. Tarapok. . 39 Storm Over the World—Vicente Villamin .................................................. 41 We Go To Lipa — R. Barlow, S.J.. . 45 Revolt in Art — M. Icasiano.............. 48 We Yield to the Senators.................... 53 Coop Without Tears — H. Watson... 59 When Rains Fall — B. Llamzon......... 4 Who Am I? — C. Burgunder........... 43 Living — E. Juco ................................ 38 Song for Little Children—-C. Cruz. . . 47 columns: Heart to Heart — Lily Marlene......... 27 Horse Sense — Leon Garcia .............. 36 Thinking With God — F. Lebuffe ... 51 departments: Cartoons by GAT — Intentions for September—Fr. Siguion, SJ....................................................... 32 The Apostleship Corner—Fr. Verceles, SJ....................................................... 31 This Got Me ......................................... 61 Cross Currents of Reader*' View* ... A Associate Editors - Mario Gatbonton Augusto H. Piedad Business Manager Raul C. Reyes Board of Editors Antonio Estrada Hermenegildo B. Reyes Nicolas Zafra Enrique F. Lumba Contributing Editor* Salvador Araneta Miguel Cucnco Pacita Santos Renato Arevalo THE CROSS is a CathoU* publication issued monthly by THE CROSS MAGAZINE with the permission of the ecclesias tical authorities. Contribution* co the Cross are welcome, pro vided they are in line with tha 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 ease of rejection. Subscription rate*: One year — local: F4.00: for eign: $3.00. Printed by R. P. GARCIA Publishing Company. 999 Dapitan. Manila. Registered as second class mail matter a* the Manila Post Office. Pius XII Bans Commies (Official Text) SUPREME SACRED CONGREGATION OF THE HOLY OFFICE DECREE This Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office has been asked: 1 ) Whether it is lawful to enlist in or show favour to the communist party? 2) Whether it is lawful to publish, read or disseminate books, news papers, periodicals or leaflets in support of communist doctrine and practice or write in them any articles. 3) Whether Catholics, who knowingly and freely place actions as specified in numbers 1 and 2 above, moy be admitted to the Sacra ments? 4) Whether Catholics, who profess, and particularly those who defend and spread, the materialistic and antichristian doctrine of the com munists, ipso facto, as apostates from Catholic faith, incur excom munication reserved especially to the Holy See? The most Eminent and Reverend Fathers, charged with the defense of matters pertaining to faith and morals, after having previously heard the opinion of the Consultors, at a plenory session held on Tuesday (instead of Wednesday) the 28th day of June 1949, decreed thot the above mentioned questions be answered as follows: to No. 1 In the negative, for communism is materialistic and antichris tian; besides, communist leaders, although they sometimes verbally assert thot they are not opposed to religion, show them selves nevertheless, both by doctrine and action, to be in reality enemies of God, of the true religion and of the Church of Christ. to No. 2 In the negotive, inasmuch as this is prohibited by law itself (cf. can. 1399 C.J.C.). 3 CROSS to No. 3 In the negative, in accordance with the common principles cover ing the refusal of the Sacraments to those not having the proper dispositions. to No. 4 In the affirmative. And on the following Thursday, the 30th of the same month and year His Holiness, Pope Pius XII, when informed of the decision in the usual audience granted to His Excellency the Most Rev. Assessor, approved and ordered to be published the above answers in the "Acta Apostolicae Sedis". Given at Rome, July I, 1949 PETER VIGORITA Notary of the S. . Congr. of the Holy Office. WHEN RAINS FALL [CONTEMPLATION] What's lovelier to contemplate than rain. . . Ten million billion beads of streaming woter Awakening cracked porched earth, that from proud summer Hos pleaded for a greener life in vain? Search all the gold mines of the sunset plain. Or watch beside the moon-washed banks of night. Pick out a star and scrutinize its light. And still you'll miss the kind thoughts packed in rain! A stifling summer heat, — the world is dry. A splash of rain, and all is green again! A drought, and famine clops its bonds on men. But men burst free, when rains fall from the sky! Thus rain is but the image of Christ's grace. That greens man's sin-scorched soul and heals its sores. Rain brightly mirrors Him Who daily pours Abundont life on man's else withered race. So glory be to Thee, dear Lord for rain! We'll bless Thee always for this healing flood! When showers come we'll think thot Thou our God Somehow, somewhere, art healing souls in pain! B. LLAMZON SJ. Attention: Presidential Candidates Numerous parish priests, whose opinion, one must admit, carries leaden weight with Catholic voters, have asked us about your stand on the question of Religious Instruction in our public schools. One such leader of the people from way down Antique writes: Patnongon, Antique Sir: Please go on fighting for obligatory religious instruction in our public schools. The parochial (elementary) schools are an impossibility now — with our churches, conventos and schools destroyed. We simply lack the means to pay teachers an adequate salary. Who of the presidential candidates stands for it? Nobody again? What does Dr. Laurel want to say by his “God” in the platform of the Nacionalista party, when it deals about the schools. The legislation of many states prove that compulsory religious in struction in public schools is possible in spite of separation of Church and State. The biggest drawback with our Catholic people in our Philippines is certainly — religious ignorance. To fight it we have, besides heaven ly means, these two: 1. More and better priests. (Good seminaries with professors also experienced in parish work — sanctification of priests outside the seminary.) 2. Religious instruction in public schools. (“God in the schools”.) So far all we can do is train and encourage catechists to teach in these schools during the (often) ungodly hour granted us. Last year I left a parish with about 100 catechists teaching in the public schools, SO in town, 70 in barrios. Here I started anew and I hope to send about SO catechists into the public school this schoolyear. It’s true these catechists are not always first class (how could they be?) but they try their best. It’8 a pity to see good Catholic schoolteachers able and willing to help — and yet not allowed to mention religion in the least. 3 CROSS No doubt what we need is: Religious instruction as a school subject for all children in their respective religious profession, given by state-paid teachers approved by their respective ministers. I cannot understand that it is not possible to pass in Congress such a law with all our Catholic solons — if only from our part a real effort is made. Cordially yours, * * * (Fr.) Virgil Pimer Thot the religious instruction issue is still very much alive with Cath olics may be a surprise to all candidates and non-Catholics. Truth is the future of Catholicism in the Philippines (and therefore the Filipino nation) depends to a great extent upon this seemingly unimportant question. Stalin was not off his mind (for once!) when ho stated that a Godless system of education is Communism's greatest ally. This is one reason then why Catholics would fight — "fanatically" non-Cathalics would say — for religious instruction. When President Quezon vetoed the Rl Bill a few years ago, some people may have believed that Catholics, as far as the Rl question was concerned, were beaten once ,and for all. * * * Many thinking Catholics however knew that the veto was oil for the good of Catholicism, thot the Bill was in mony ways defective. But who of them reolly believed that they were beaten for good? On the contrary they only bid for time and sought for a better legis lation. In a democracy that is Christian in principle, the will of 90 per cent of the people connot always be overlooked. Someday, they hoped, some giant of a man. Catholic or non-Cotholic, will recognize this their God-given right and find means for its free exercise. Whot these means are, the ordinary Catholic does not pretend to know. But this he knows: that States which recognize separation of Church and State are teaching religion in state-owned schools; that their govern ment, if it wants, can adopt a similar system and grant -them this same right. Now that election guns have started to shoot, they want to know which party can give them the hope — at least — of getting whot they justly want. At the moment Dr. Laurel is on the spot. In his platform of the Nacionalista Party is written under "Education": "We will vitalize and enrich the courses of education to include and develop love of God..." What means this. Dr. Laurel? May we ask you to be a little more ex plicit? Any enlightenment on this matter will be welcomed by millions of Catholic voters. AUGUST, 1949 when women fight When women fight — well, the world looks on. But when women fight for a cause — ah, let the enemy beware! * * * A group of militont Catholic women have banded themselves to fight World Enemy No. 1: Communism. They are known as the "LIGA ANTICOMUNISTA DE MUJERES CATOLICAS". If you think they carry placards around and get a lot of free publicity, you're wrong, senor. They stoy at home. They pray. They talk. They write circulars. They spread ideas counteracting the evil seed. Circular No. 2 calls on all women to 1 . Treat their maids, servants, workers and all around them with more attention and generosity. In a word, with LOVE. 2. Meditate on a few striking verses from St. Matthew. E.g. "Blessed ore the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." 3. Pray the Rosary, for sinners and the conversion of Russia. * * * Now let the government with its millions cashed in peace and order plans give us something better than that . . .! Yes siree, so long as women of such calibre fight courageously on the homefront—all is not lost with the world. why we’re “patay gutom” In the Times for July 18, 1949, the editorial writer attempts to give the reason why capital is "shy" in coming to the Philippines. He notes that American economists seem to blame the high cost of labor in this our blessed isles. Then he tries to show that this accusation cannot hold water because wages paid Filipino loborers are much lower than wages paid American lab orers. And odds that the reol cause of the "shyness' is that over here our production cost is very high. CROSS Beyond this the editor of the Times does not go. We wonder if he is afraid to come right out and tell us why produc tions cost here is high — so high that investors are scared owoy. ♦ * * Permit us to put the reasons bluntly. Our production cost is high because the productivity of many of our laborers is, very low; and this is because labor here is often lozy, unskilled, unenthusiastic; because labor here very often works on the principle thot they should try to earn their wages with the minimum of observable effort. Our production cost is high because many of our managers, landlords, office executives are lazy, inefficient; because they often lack concentra tion; they have no idea of organization; because they are much engrossed in enjoying their supposed dignity as white-collar workers; because many work on the principle that business offices are social clubs. ♦ * * It hurts our pride to see these things in print — thot is probably why the Times editor very tactfully sidestepped them. But they are valid reasons why our production cost is so high — even with our low wages. High production cost means high prices. And high prices mean poison in the world's open markets. Who wants to invest in a venture that cannot sell its goods? — in a venture that is a losing proposition? the parade of oomph Sometime lost March, we hod occasion to soy a few words about oquabelles. We said that while we admire female diving champions, we do object to the glamour unduly attached to them by these exhibitions. In the first place, ,it was not in accord with the nature of the sponsor. In the second place, we pointed out thot it tended to make girls disparage their true function ---- motherhood. Quite a few misinterpreted our stand and objected strenuously. We know of one celebrity-struck colegiala who violently tore her copy of the Cross. "Kill-joys" was one of the less opprobrious terms rained upon our heads. Now we are promised another exhibition of oquabelles. AUGUST, 1949 This time it is on othletic organization that brings it here. Not the C.Y.O. as publicized. Very well then — othletics for athletes. The only trouble is: the benighted audience will not be composed of athletes. Will it hove the necessary scientific detachment, the ortistic abstraction? We hope. But we have no illusions about our locol spectators. Many will go there who are not interested in athletics. Now please do not misunderstand us again. We have nothing against o well-built figure. A really ideally molded person is not the work of a Praxiteles, a Michelangelo or an Augustus Saint Gaudens. No. A really beautiful figure of a womon is the masterpiece of the Master Artist of the universe. The staggering thought is: — Suppose our impressionable women take to oquacading on a large scale? We con imagine the picture of every blighted local girl putting on the abbreviated things. To aesthetic souls, the prospect of the aftermath of these type of exhibitions is frightening. we are the music makers We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams... World losers and world forsakers.... Yet we are the movers and shakers of the world forever, it seems There exists in the world today a most striking contrast. It reminds us of the picture the poet drew in Flanders Field, of a lark bravely singing above the shell-swept battlefield. Today oil the world is a Flanders Field. In nearly every quarter there is in operation or preparation a vast work of destruction. But meanwhile a lone voice serenely keeps its note of peace and otherwordly things. From Rome the Vatican Radio and the Acta Apostolicae Sedls (Official Vatican Organ) speak out regularly of God and morality and truth. Month by month and day by day throughout the world the Catholic Church keeps talking, even during the war, of immortality and charity and grace and Christ. Is this Catholic song above the battle field of the world as futile as the lark's? It it mere idealistic babbling that is drowned and nullified in the thunder of "realistic" politics? It would be a great mistoke to think that. 10 THE CROSS In this world of ours there is one doss of people who ore permonent benefactors of the human race. They are the people who keep the ideas of the world in order. And the ideas of the world are in order only when they are the ideas of the God-Man. Catholics, for all their lethargy and inaction, might think, amid the thunder of politics, business and social conflict, that their simple lesson on the mount (Blessed are the meek!), their little gospel of love (forgive your enemies!), their faintly heard law of morality (Thou sholt not kill!), are futile and unimportant. These Cotholics possess the only thing that is of enduring value. They, for all their weaknesses and ignorance of other things, "ore the movers and shakers of the world forever." It's great to be a Catholic. .Especially today. Sebio, an example of an animal with two feet. You might get angry dr. Correction Mo. 2, Mr. Ba I g os by PEDRO C. LIP ATA NEWS ITEM Pope Pius' global excommunication of oil Catholics supporting Com munism "poses a grave menace to one of the basic freedoms of man: the freedom of religious and political belief everywhere in the world/' Mariano P. Balgos, general secretary of the Communist Party of the Philippines, de clared ih a press statement lost night. Balgos said that the decree means an abandonment by the Pope of his role os leader of the Christian world "in a desperate bid for power." The Communist leader charged that the decree constitutes meddling, is "a subtle attempt to divide the world into Catholics ond non-Catholics," and is anti-sociol in that it tries to "undermine the interests of the toiling masses who believe in universal brotherhood. Balgos also said that the decree is an act of desperation occasioned by the tremendous gains made by Communism everywhere. (Manila Times, July 16, 1949) Mr. Balgos' declaration that Pope Pius' global excommunication of all Catholics supporting Communism "poses a grove menace to one of the basic freedoms of man: the freedom of religious ond political belief every where in the world" needs correction. I feel sorry for his gross ignorance of what an excommunication decreed by the Church is. Or being aware of it, does he intend to distort the facts again? For the information of Com rade Balgos, an excommunication by the Church is applicable only to Catholics and not to any other indi vidual adhering to another religion. I can understand Comrade Balgos predicament, he being devoid of a God. Where is freedom of religious belief menaced in the Papol decree? A Protestant may adhere to com munistic tenets yet he cannot be ex communicated from the Catholic Church being outside the Church. Surely you cannot expel me from your house Comrade Balgos, when I am not of your household? The same with a Protestant. Adversely speak ing, a Protestant may hate Com munism but that does not make him a Catholic. Does it? Ask any Pro testant. So where is the menace? It is in Comrade Balgos' distortion of facts and principles. Again Comrade Balgos states that the decree means an abandonment by the Pope of his role as leader of the Christian world "in a desperate bid for power." What power. Comrade? Material power? Worldly power thot disin tegrates before the onslaught of time? Surely the Pope who is the ac knowledged Spiritual Father of mil lions of Catholics the world over will not barter his spiritual power for the 12 CROSS kind of power which Comrade Bal gos charges His Holiness is bidding for desperately. Surely the Pope knows his history of monarchs, emperors, presidents, ond what have you, rulers who have come ond gone, ond whose influences are nowhere to be felt at the present time. Surely the Pope knows his pre decessors who have gone before him, noble in stature, more glorious in history and whose very nomes we venerote to this doy. Again Comrade Balgos charges thot the decree constitutes meddling, is "a subtle attempt to divide the world into Catholics and non-Catholics," and is anti-social in that it tries to "undermine the interests of the toiling mosses who believe in universal brotherhood." Too bod, the mind of Comrade Balgos is either beclouded by the confusion wrought by the presence of the numerous sects that vie with ' one another in sowing their seeds in the land where Catholicism towers over and above all others, or maybe Comrade Balgos is making "a subtle attempt" or would like to give a cue for ’ Protestants to raise a cry by his (Balgos) statement ".... to divide the world into Catholics and non Catholics". Listen Comrade. As I said, the decree applies to Catholics and Catholics alone. The Pope has de clared excommunications before ond even long before Communism ever made a bid for recognition. And whot history book will prove or at tempt to prove that such excommu nications divided or will ever divide the world into Catholics ond non Catholics? Perhaps it is Comrade Balgos' fonciful desire to realign all nonCotholics against the Church and ef fect such a division, knowing fully well that the Church is Cdmmunism's staunchest and mortal enemy. Neither is the decree anti-social. I would advise Comrade Balgos to go to a Catholic book store and pur chase a couple of particular ency clicals and I hope his mind at least, if not his heart and soul may be converted, ond watch out when ap plying the term "anti-social". The Churph is definitely not. Comrade Balgos now. arrives ot the conclusion that the decree is an act of desperation occasioned by tre mendous gains made by Com munism everywhere. Would you hove us believe that when to the Church was promised God's abidance till the end of lime ond against whom the very gates of hell cannot prevail? Pray read more of the Church's struggles in history. Better and sup posed-to-be great men, greater than you, have thought and planned along the same lines. Where are they now? True, they made tremendous gains. Where ore those goins? And now you would make us be lieve your gains are everywhere.» Yes, your gains are everywhere Comrade, everywhere in the dark for so are your missions, and once you step into the light of Truth, woe unto you, for the darkness will cower unable to comprehend It. Baguio’s New Morality by MARIO GATBONTON Lawgiver Motet comet down in Baguio — an Editor! Thanks to the new morality recent ly proclaimed in Baguio City, you may now shoot some local politicians with impunity. Or poison your nagging mother-in-low — and remain on an While the local government paused, consulted dusty textbooks, the Editor of "Baguio Midland Courier" decided to inject into the gel! ladies' feeble minds the most funda Thot is — if you're a bright boy. Or logical. And — if you're humble enough to swallow the kind of morality the "Baguio Midlond Courier" Editor re cently taught his readers. It all started with the good old (we don't mean the ladies) Catholic Women's League in the city of Pines. These vigilant Leaguers wanted to keep their city clean and pure (so they thought) not only moteriolly, but also morally. Putting their heads together, they petitioned the local government to pass an ordinance banning the "sexy" moderh dances (Apolachicola, Calypso, Cascarita) from their lovely city. Such "civil ized" gymnastics, they reasoned, would raise clouds of foul dusts in their "uncivilized" night clubs. mental principle of (his) morolity. Looking very much like the horned Moses coming down from Mt. Sinai with the tables of the law, the new lawgiver took up his pen, and with one sweeping stroke, wrote for pos terity. children: including his own great grand"An ordinance passed, prohibiting the execution of supposedly immoral dances, would be curtailment of the liberties guaranteed by the Constitu tion. And IN THE LAST ANALYSIS, you connot legislate morality, WHICH IS A MASS ATTITUDE ... for after all, MORALITY IS THE RESULT OF PUBLIC OPINION." There you ore friends. The new morality in its unabridged edition, promising one and all "life in the row”. What are you waiting for? 13 14 THE CROSS IF. Yes, IF public opinion is oil that dictates the morality or immoral ity of on act, you may now: 1 . Shoot some local politicians. Mass opinion demands it. 2. Poison your mother in low. Husbands are agreed they are a nuisance. 3. Grab all the money you con with any means. Modem man thinks money is all thot counts. 4. Legalize abortion. Divorce. Mercy killing. Birth Control. Adul tery. Rape. Murder. Sacrilege. Theft. Lying. Etc. Etc. After all, the Almighty Press can always create public opinion for any thing. The Comic books too will help popularize the new Anti-Ten Commondments. But in all seriousness now, we think that the exaggerations of the "Baguio Midland Courier" Editor have far more disastrous effects on our morality than either the Apala chicola, the Calypso or Cascarita. For one thing the morality of these dances is questioned. But the amorolity of his moral standard leaves no room for doubt. When public opinion becomes the standard of morality, what is im moral today may be moral tomorrow ond vice versa. To paraphrase Hazlitt, there is not a more fickle onimal than the Public. And what is wrong with such prin ciple, you might ask. Everything. It falls on its own grounds. It claims that all moral laws change with the fashion of the times. Being a moral low in itself, it moy therefore be moral today but immoral tomorrow. Is it then worth a tinker's cent? The Baguio Editor will answer that quesThe Editor little realizes perhaps thot he has made a GOD of public opinion. Whatever public opinion dictates, that is the moral thing to do. But suppose a man does not care for public opinion. (Give us one solid reason why he should.) Then by what moral low is he bound? Doubtless the Baguio Editor meons well. But his erudition is limited. Who isn't limited one way or an other? Nevertheless the Editor owes his readers an explanation. In the lost analysis, why should a man be morol?Because GOD WILLS IT. No other reason holds water. And whot, in the last analysis, is the changeless standard of morality? The TEN COMMANDMENTS. And why, in the last analysis, are the ten commandments changeless? Because man will olwoys remain God's creature. And God is change less. (But more obout this in another issue.—Eds.) The greatest undeveloped territory in the world lies under your hat. Factor* that make o gain unjust and usurious How Black Is “Black Market” by GEORGE VROMANT, CICM Mr. Carreon i* a sugar dealer who was lucky enough to be the first one to receive a sugar shipment in the town of Sta. Cruz, Laguna, after the American liberation. In a week's time, he had sold one-half of his sugar ond had o profit of three times his invested capital for the entire ship ment. In this case, Mr. Carreon is guilty of unjust and usurious gain. In fact when a person accumulates much wealth in a short time, in o manner involving no specialized skill or perfection of workmanship and no great hazards or risks, there is just cause to question whether he has al ways been just and honest. The some is to he said when by means of ordinary transactions re quiring no particularly specialized activity, a person realizes gains in no way proportionate to the services he thereby renders to the community or to Society at lorge. Juan for instance is a carpenter. Under ordinary circumstance* he charges three pesos for putting a lock on a door. One night, Mr. del Mundo, hi* neighbor, called him to put a lock on a door. Because it was already night, and Mr. del Mundo, who was afraid that thieve* would break into hi* house, needed hi* serv ices very badly, Juan charged thirty pesos for the job. This gain of his is Ways of Measuring o Lawful Goin 1. In connection with the support of the family. As a matter of fact, the stondard income of a viable en terprise must be sufficient to support the fomily engaged in the enterprise Whot that standard income should be which provides this decent living in keeping with the times, will dif fer from fomily to family. However, a fomily cannot be denied the right to secure a decent living by means of selling merchandise at prices to thot effect. 2. In connection with the running of the enterprise. The standard income of a viable enterprise requires the sum necessary to run the business effectively, al lowing a sufficient margin to assure o reasonable gain ond to cover the risks the venture is liable to sustain. Mony factors enter into the effective running and the reasonable expan sion of a business enterprise. Several circumstances moy impede its ex tension and even its very existence. Therefore, the efforts ond stress re quired to keep it alive ond prosper ous should be token into special con sideration. Mr. Barrios, for example, is an im15 16 CROSS porter whose merchandise just after the American liberation came from foreign countries under the war-risks of fire, loss at sea, damage or theft. His ordinary office expenses includ ing the transportation or freight of his goods amounted to five thousand pesos a month. If he sold his merchandise twice or, according to circumstances, even three times the value of the cost price, so as to make a monthly gross profit of around eight thousand pesos, his gain seemed to be justified con sidering the expenses and exceptional risks he was then lioble to incur. On the other hand, Teodoro is a retailer who has a store in Pasay and who purchases his merchandise from the office of Mr. Barrioi. To run hi* enterprise he spends two hun dred pesos month ly. If Mr. Teodoro sells his merchan dise four times the value of the cost price, this may be considered an un lawful gain, since, his expenses amount to two hundred pesos only, and his goods ore not liablo to any risk, since he only buys them from an office in the same city where he is stay ing. Hypnotist: "The ring costs P.10." Moral Conclusions It is incumbent on every producer or merchant to estoblish an estimate of the total profits he is entitled to, general, to conform his acti vities and business transactions to this established standard. Should his profit go beyond those reasonable limits, his prices are usurious, unjust ond sinful, ond he is obliged ta make restitution. However, in cases of abnormal gains it would often seem advisable to bear judgment on the income of a business venture os a whole, rother than to examine and to evaluate the each particular transacCharity is mocked — and challenged! Listen, Mr. President by LEON GARCIA Dear Mr. President, I have never written you before. But certainly in your position you receive fan mail even from, the common man. I ask you to give this one a lit tle time — unless you'd brush off a big chance for you to do some real good. You may not have an other such chance, Mr. President. What if tomorrow finds you just another Juan . . . Charity is my subject. Rather unusual, I admit. But when na tions would mock this “greatest of all”, as St. Paul calls it, you and I should scream lest humanity hang itself in despair. For the Philippines it is not too late. We are even now challenged. As usual, you Mr. President, will answer for us. Since we would not have you fail, J am writing you the following story . . . Relax now — and listen. When thot monstrous (pardon the languoge) Stalin brought forth into the world his "New God", there wos o moss migration of Russians to for eign londs. These people would wander homeless, harried, hungry rother than pay homage to his only begotten monster, whom they fought with their lives. Thousands of them fled across the China border. Many more es caped by ships from Vlodivostock. The majority settled down to begin their lives onew in Shanghai, which wos then beginning to enjoy its big gest commercial boom. In oil, some 16,000 Russians made their homes in this largest port of China. More thon two decades of selfless cooperation moulded the settlers into a solid, brave, new colony. They had a school in a modern building with all the necessary equipment ond a library. Last year more classes were opened as the school approached the university standard. They had homes too, modest ones indeed, but homes of the "free and the brave." In general Shanghoi offered them o foirly stable, new life and a promise of returning one day to a liberty loving Russia. That is — until the Red monster thumped down across the Chinese border too.. . . When Mukden, in Manchuria, fell into the honds of the Chinese Com munists, the trend of the political 17 18 THE CROSS setup in Chino took o sharp turn to the left. With the capture of Pei ping and Tientsin by the Reds, the threat to Shanghai became evident and real. The Russians, naturally, feored this communist advance. Vision of concentration camps ond death arose before their eyes. The financial crisis that was sweeping over China struck them mercilessly. They were the lowest paid class among foreign ers. Once again they packed up their belongings to scomper away. Since they now considered them selves a colony, they had hoped that in resettling, some country would gen erously take them in en bloc. But when no country would take the whole group, they had to break up into smaller groups ond resettle into different lands. Over a thousand managed to ob tain entry permits into the great United States. The majority how ever signed up for Argentina. For rhe moment immigration terms there were easier and entry permits easily obtained. But for some particular reason, Argentina chonged her policy and cancelled all landing permits. With the help of the IRO (Inter national Refugee Organization) ond your generosity, Mr. President, the Philippines threw her doors open to these unfortunate people. She pro mised to give refuge to 6,000 of them in the typhoon-battered island of Tubabao, Samar. They were to Stoy only for six months. Last January, 1949, the first group arrived in Tubabao, some by planes, the rest by ship. Now in the weather beaten IRO camp of Guiuan there are over 5,000 refugees living in US ormy tents. They ore happy enough there;. life is so much better than what Stalin has in store for them. But abnormal camp life is hardly tolerable for nor mal people. The food given out is below normal requirement, especially for children. The sanitary and hy gienic conditions are poor and camp life is badly organized. Many need medicine, which is of ten found in derisory quantity. The financial condition of most of them is critical. Among the five thousand only a. few can buy additional. food from the Filipino stalls'-and shops open near the camp. All the rest arrived with little or no money at all. And what these had, they already lost. For the IRO, as expected, does not provide them the little necessaries of everyday life. The belonging they had brought are wearing out fast, thanks to the rains, and mud, and heat, of tropical Tubabao. In the near future this Russian colony may yet turn into a nudist colony. Over and above these physical needs ond sufferings is the harrow ing knowledge that no country wants to receive them. And if some do, there ore usuolly so many strict 'li mitations for age and health, that one wonders if these nations do not mock charity! Under these condi tions, many will never have a real chance for definite resettlement.” Australia foas offered to take, some AUGUST, 1949 19 1,500 of them offer a drastic prohi- prove a burden to our community. bition for the old and a scrupulous But who was it who said before examination of their health. The 10,000 youth at the Rizal Stadium most humanitarian offer came from once: Paraguay. But only a few were ac- “The only enemies of peace in cepted, for actually there is not much this country are in our inner be toom for decent re-settlement for ing, in ourselves. We have been new emigrants in that country, paying too much attention to those France too sent in o Mission to in- who dangle before us the goods of vite some of the refugees there. But this world. We have forgotten the very few asked to go to France on Creator when we love only the account of the Red menace in Europe, created." Remember? Thus the Philippines is challenged. You and I know that the only The first help the refugees need things that really count in this is resettlement into normal life. Into world are those of eternal value. a country where they moy earn their If not these, then nothing. living, feel as free citizens ond look Yes, Mr. President. I know you otter the education of their children. will not fail us in this challenge. Into o country they could adopt as Someone has well said: “If there their own, as long as the Red God is anything that I can do, let me sits on the throne of their homeland, not put it off. I shall ru-t pass * * * again this way." This then is the challenge to our Here’s your chance, Mr. Prescharity, Mr. President. We have ident. Tomorrow you may be just always been known throughout the another luan ... or ju>;>, another length and breadth of the world soul. for our hospitality. This virtue of Sincerely your friend, the Filipino is now on test. Juan de la Cruz We are in a position to help P.S. If you think a screening necthese Russians, whose only crime essary, Fr. Wilcock SJ. is ready is their stubborn refusal to be- any time. He has worked unselfcome Soviet slaves. We could al- ishly for the refugees for the last low them to resettle as long they ten years. Besides, the emigrants want in these “fair isles". have their own Anti-Communist Perhaps the old, the weak, and Russian Emigrant Association, the sickly among them will not be- Hope to hear from you. nefit our land. They may even Same Soul FOR OPENMINDED FOLKS Merely having an open mind is nothing. The object of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to shut it again on something solid. — GKC. She wolks in beauty like the night. . . The Ideal Girl by AN "AB" Girls are queer creatures, the queerest of all creation. So it is that I am writing this with the funniest cf sensations. I feel as if I were plunging into a pool whose depths I do not know, yet whose very Strangeness is sore temptation ond whose cool blue seems life itself. I know such things should not be attempted the consequences may be frightful. I do not know enough obout girls. In fact I do not know anything at all about them. Oh, par don me, I mean only about those — "whose hands rock the cradle and thus the world." But I think I do know about those "who rock the stars." You see, I have already met one of them. And that is the reason for this seemingly empty bravado; that is why, despite all friendly warning, despite all my imagining of peril be yond the imagining, I am writing this. For it is of her thot I speak. I hope thot is enough of an apology. Let us call this consummate piece of creation the "ideal girl." Some will come up and say that this term is too prosaic, too inadequate, too "techOf course, we could call her a "star" — for she is supposed to be the beacon light of the man, the inspiration forever leading him to greater ond nobler heights, the mys tery, the fascinotion making him dream "vaster dreams of literature ond empire." Or we could coll her a "poem" — for she is supposed to be an exquisite blend of power and beauty ond deli cacy — the beauty of God caught in mortal frame, softened by a breath of heaven. But for the sake of simplicity, let us call her just the "ideal girl." There are so many Virtues we could require of thtf- "ideal girl" that it would need a whole sky to compass all of them (but perhaps that is just what she is after all). Anyway, we can classify them into two general groups. The first group let us call the human, the earthly, almost the conventional; and the second let us call the celestial, the quintissentia, the divine, the music, the mystery. Seeing the first in a girl makes a man exclaim, "She is so like a princess." Knowing she has the first makes a girl feel good; knowing she has the second makes her realize that she is beautiful. The first is manu factured from an analysis of 'life* the second springs from the poetry of Living. Let us now consider the first group. Under this we can name those Vir20 AUGUST, 1949 21 tues which ore usuolly found in Friend's Directories on the spoce af ter the title "Ideol Girl." She must know how to cook. She must be kind, modest, naive, open. She must be understanding, thoughtful, broadminded. She must be feminine. She must be neat, with poise ond personality. She must be generous. She must be a good con versationalist ond a good dancer. She must inspire confidence. She must be intelligent, refined, friendly, ap preciative. She must be ready to ride a "jeepney", to toke orchestra seots, ond to enjoy o weenie roast. She must be able to keep a secret and she should not be morbidly curious. And so on and so on, seemingly ad infinitum. All in all in modern porlance, we would soy, "She must be on ongel — plus!" Most of the demands mentioned above need no explanation or omplification. From the repeated (and often denied) exhortotions and pleas of despairing males, the world knows them only too well. However, it would not be wholly ridiculous to touch here and there upon a few, little points. By intelligence, we do not mean that a woman should be oble to ex plain Einstein's theory of relativity or thbt she should know what an allelomorph Is. We would be per fectly content if she knows just when she is supposed to osk for a coke ond when • for lobster thermidon, and if she realizes that Bing Crosby is a better crooner than Sinatra. She must be naive and candid That is, she must not have false in hibitions. She need not blush to start a friendly letter to a boy with "Dear....," ond in dances, she is one who con look straight at him and soy, "Let's dance. I like this piece." Neatness is onother of the re quisite. It shows itself in many ways, the most conclusive and infallible, I think, being the not-oftened noticed fingernails. A girl will not forget to do her hair and powder her nose but she moy sometimes forget the "inconsequential" dirt clinging to noils. (And confidentially, there are a lot of boys who would rather not have them crimsoned, ond a great lot more who simply can't stand point on the toe nails.) She must be a good conversation alist. Dale Carnegie may be able to think up a thousand rules about this but I think if she employs good sense ond tact, she should rate "excellent" in this regard. At least she should be able to talk intelligently about lite rature and music and a little philo sophy — and Bob Hope. She should never make the mistake of asking for the explanation of a joke; but sometimes it would do ex tremely well for her to ask why men are so grand and why women ore so dumb — if only to make him talk (you see, the old back-pat trick still works on those males!) And now we come to the second group, to the essential and the divine, to the mystery and the rapture and the song. We come to those undefinable Virtues which inspire a man 22 THE CROSS to love, which bless him with cour age and strength and will, which lift his eyes from the mire to the stars. These ore the Virtues which make a mon carry off a woman into the shelter of an ivory tower, which moke him face the world with head erect and heart drumming, which make him dream and fight and win! These ore the Virtues in women which can make a man once more believe in God. It seems a presumption to try to describe these Virtues. Anolysis con only detract them from their glory ond magnificence. These are things felt and not analysed; which are known to be, though not why; which defy expression unless they be ex pressed os "divine." But anywoy we shall try. She must know the true meaning of. Life, Life in its reality, in its im pact. She must realize its glory and its power and its strife. She must hove felt the urge that inspired Tennyson to write, "as though to breathe were life," "life piled on life were all too little," and the yearning that forced the cry from Edna St. Vincent Millay, "O world, world, I cannot hold thee close enough." She must know that it is worth fighting for, thot it is not merely to be had, but to be won! When a mon looks out over the brink of the Universe and sees oceans rolling at his feet and empires sprawled endlessly before him, hewants a woman beside him — to share in his dream, to accompany him in his long journey, to build his empire with him. She should be one with him, living his life, her soul mingling with his soul. She must have a unity of purpose with him. When a mon steps out into the evening and sees moon-silver sprinkled on the grass ond catches the great gaunt trees whispering strange prayer, he wants somebody beside him — to share in this beauty, to behold God with him. And so, she must have a "soul" for the beautiful. When a man is buffeted by cir cumstance and he falls to his knees on the dust, and he struggles to his feet apd is knocked down again, he wants somebody to raise, him up, to pound the dust off his bock and send him off again on his woy with o smile on her lips — though that smile be stained with tears. He wants her to hove supreme trust and confidence in him, to. be able to look dp ot him and say, "I love you, Bert. The world may think you're a fool. But I love you, and I believe in you." He wants her to know that triumph would be empty where there is no fight of soul, no struggle, no defect; that joy is only happy because tears fell first. He wants her to have the "steel' of char acter, "to strive, to seek, to find, ond not to yield." And finally remains only one more test for this "ideal girl" — the su preme test of her capability for mo therhood. Inevitably, the man osks himself this one question, a question which can be answered only by a AUGUST, 1949 23 plain "yes" or a plain "no", a ques tion which is short but vibrantly alive with meaning, simple yet beautifully expressive, compassing the whole Universe of mon's desire — "Would I wont her to be the mother of my children?" She it must be who con love both the potter of their little feet and the loud shouts of their exuberant youth. can comfort in their defeot, who con share in their dreams no matter how small because she realizes that such dreams are the whole world in their little eyes. She it is who can moke them love the beautiful because she herself is beautiful; who can make them love God because she herself is of God; she con raise them up pure and strong and fine as Mary because she her self is like Mary. She it is who can take them by the handsome quiet evening and whisper into their ears stories of fairies and sagos of faith ond hope and nobility. She it is who con love, ond be loved. There goes a certain story about a child who, before being tucked into bed for the evening, once asked his mother to tell him about God. And picking her words very carefully, she began, "God my boy is good —. ond sweet — and kind..." when all of a sudden he broke in, his face all aglow with joyful understanding, and softly whispered, "Oh Mommy, there's a lot of God about you." Somehow, I would like my children to be able to soy thot same thing of their mother — my wife. It Only Happens In The Movies by EXEQUIEL MOLINA Sergeant Joe Robinson finally came into the cabin. The men stop ped cleaning their rifles and turned to look at him anxiously. All were silent. For d moment, only the lap ping of the gentle Pacific waves against the side of the Army trans port could be heard. Then: "All right fellows!" boomed the sarge. "Get ready for. the big push. In five minutes we're gonna shove off for the first crack ot the Solomons." He paused, looked around him, seeing the tense, silent faces tighten into grim resolve. In the dis tance, the dull sound of guns come louder. His voice cracked like o whip-lash. "This is it!" And then, "Pay-off ot Guadalca nal" really got going. Bullets started flying, guns flashed and the boys sit ting near me started howling like mad. I got up and went home. I have hod enough of wor movies: He roic sergeants, bloody heroes, and companies dying With smiles on their lips. Bah! And guess who the guys in the company are: there's always a guy from Brooklyn who speaks from the side of his mouth and generally sup plies the laughs, (he's either a taxi driver or a Bowery character but he's always a Brooklyn Dodgers fan); there's o lanky guy from Texas named Tex, of course; a young small-town kid who writes letter to his mom; sometimes, even a Filipino extra who says he had a girl friend in Intramuros when it was bombed; and the hero who goes around show ing his girl friend's picture ond philosophizing about better days. Why can't they be as realistic as Bill Mauldin's cartoons? The kind of stuff that every red-blooded Gl Joe, who loves to poke his sarge and bump blankety blank of a second looey, reolly go for. Gl Joe never went to war with pressed''pants and shiny combat boots. He just got shot, starved and muddied. Most of the time, he wosn't feeling very he roic. Only badly frightened. Of course, it's not only war pic tures that feature a lot of corn. How about the Hollywood boy-meets-girl flickers? The story is as old os the pithecanthropus. In cose you don't know it, thot's a prehistoric animal, long extinct. The plot is always something straight out of a Bertha Clay novel: all about o boy who meets a girl from the other side of the tracks, morries her in spite of his family's vigoroife objections, and live happily ever af ter. In some' pictures, it is the girl who comes from the upper brackets 24 AUGUST, 1949 25 ond the boy happens to be some obs cure country boy. This plot is something local movie goers always see in local movies, too. There is really no difference between the Bergman-Boyer team ond the Magolona-Duran combination except perhaps the color of their skin. Then there are the Western horse operas with always the same old story: Wild Bill, his nag Slowpoke, a pair of shootin' irons, his stooge who is hitched along just for the laughs, and who now and then rescues his Wild Bill from being run over by a train or being scalped by the Pawn ees. These two cowboys are ridin the range when they heor shots. So they rush over ond what do they see? An army of gun-men ambushing a stoge-coach. Our gallant pair ride off ond start to litter the landscape with dead villains in a matter of sec onds and come out of it unscathed, Then, a beautiful lady comes out of the coach and thanks our heroes. She tells them her troubles, asks them to come over to her dad's ranch and sove it from Slug McCoy and his band. On the way, Wild Bill proves he's not only a cow-puncher but also a combination of Perry Como and Bing Crosby with blisters in the seat of his pants. Everything goes reol nice until the showdown finally comes. Wild Bill meets Slug McCoy and the battle is on. There is five-minute chase around the range, and up there in the front row you keep your hand kerchief to your nose because of the dust their horses have kicked up. Wild Bill catches up on Slug McCoy and after a spectacular leap, they roll down the hill slugging it out. Finally, Wild Bill stands up and smiles like the triumph of justice. He's got his man! And the shouts and opplauses of the boys around you die down as the sheriff ond his posse come to take the villain. Wild Bill goes back to his girl and reports that "everything is ovah, ond that plumb loco is shore gone." She smiles sweet ly while Wild Bill starts to blush from ear to ear; over in a corner his stooge starts to make the laughs. Then Wild Bill gets just enough courage to say what's on his mind. Guess what? He merely wonts to SILENCED BY SOLOMON Sis young housewives living in the same apartment building got into a violent dispute and were haled into court. When the case was called they rushed to the judge's bench and all broke into long bitter complaints. The judge finally rapped for order, and when quiet was restored, the patient, worldly-wise magistrate said calmly, "Please speak one at a time, and I'll hear the oldest first." But there wasn't a word to break the silence. 26 CROSS say good-bye cause he and his pal ore goin' to ride agin where thar's trouble a-brewin'. Wild Bill mounts his horse ond fades into the sunset, leaving a girl crying behind him. The lights go on and there is a wild scamper for seats. The Serials, too, haven't changed a bit since Pearl White scared the daylights out of Daddy. Our hero always manages to escope from every trap thot the villain thinks of. First he is tied to a truck which is set afire, loaded with a time-bomb and a cage of cobras, and driven over a cliff. But does he die? Don't be silly! It's only the first chapter. There are eleven others to go. So, he goes on being pushed around by the cruel villains some more. He meets up with three hoods in a warehouse filled with dynamite. They fight it out. Somebody over turns a kerosene lamp and soon a barrel of dynamite gets lit up and wham! Don't miss the next thrilling episode of "Dick Tracy" at this thea ter next week! And whot about musicals? What would you say about the handsome hero who is always a struggling, starving young composer who calls his girl friend and tells her he's just written a new song. (Of course, he neglects to mention thot it was first thought up by a guy named Chopin way back in 1836). He plays a few bars on the piano. Slowly, the girl slides over to the keyboard, picks up the music sheet and starts to sing. Before she gets to another phrase she has laid it down and sings as if she has been practicing it all her life. (She prob ably had, at that.) And before you know it, a full symphony orchestra has taken up the accompaniment. Ever notice the number of guys who stand up ond leave the theater in the middle of a song? Keep your eyes open next time you see a mu sical. Of course, some Hollywood movies ore good. But they are unfortunately, too few ond far-between. Pictures like "Johnny Belinda" and "Joan of Arc" can't be mass-produced. Here are a few more boners from the gripe-bucket. Why is it that when the hero or his pal is about to kick the bucket, he lives a little longer and manages to mutter a few things as "Tell them thot I died with her name on my lips and with my boots on." But when it comes to villains, they just drop dead or live long enough not to soy who done it. Or why at every movie's end Van Johnson and Esther Williams come to a rib-breaking clinch and live hap pily ever after? In this world of real ity such clinches cost us guys plenty. Don't you know that a married man's life is a world of slave-driving bosses, bill collectors, a nagging wife and a mother-in-law? Don't kid me about love and kisses. IT CAN ONLY HAPPEN IN THE MOVIES.. (Eds' note: Do you think Mr. Molina is a bit cyritcol? If so, let us hear from you.) HEART TO HEART Advice to the lovelorn by Lily Marlene College Dear Miss Marlene, I am a girl of 21 summers, and studying in ....................... College. I have been brought up in a rather religious family and also here in the College the Sisters train us to lead religious life. Now when I am beginning to lead a more or less social life, I am often faced with a number of problems which I am asking you to help me solve. Sometimes I hesitate to fall in love because I can not reconcile loving God wholly and at the same time loving a man wholly. Being a married woman, you must understand my problem, better than the Sisters, don’t you think? Also, sometimes in dealing with my b.fs. I have a feeling that they are not big enough for my love. Perhaps I am just being too idealistic, but that is the way I really feel, yet I have no intention of becoming a nun someday. I have some more questions to ask you but I guess that is enough for the present. Thank you, Miss Marlene. Sincerely in Mary, Gloria Dear Gloria, Take your time. At 21, you ore still young and I see no reason why you should worry your pretty head about not being able to fall in love. If you feel that none of your suitors measure up to your ideals, then you are not in love. And there's nothing wrong in that. Remember, when yau do meet the person, you will not have any doubts — you will be sure. Now as regards your very mistaken notion that "whole-hearted love of God and love of man cannot be reconciled in one person." Morriage is a state of life where one may acquire perfection, a vocation in life, just os the religious vocation —to the priesthood or to the religious life. It is a sacrament, instituted by God, as one means of helping man to attain his salvation and sanctification. As such it is a holy state, a sacred stote, one that draws down God's special blessings on those who enter into 27 28 CROSS it with the right intentions. Our Lord intended that through the institution of marriage, man and wife would help Him in peopling the earth with the future citizens of Heaven; they would become co-creators of human life with him. There is nothing in a union blessed by God that should interfere with mans love for him. Rather true love between man and wife should mean bringing them closer to Him who is Love Itself. Manila Dear Miss Marlene, I have a great problem concerning religious vocation. You know loo well that very few parents are blessed by God to allow their children to enter religion. But unfortunately my father is one. With my seven brothers and sisters I am the youngest. Five of them are now married ■and I am the only single among the girls. I will be nineteen by Sept'ember and will be graduating this year in the Jr. Normal. As there is a saying the earlier the better, I wanted to go without finishing my coursi. The guestion is I do not have the dough and I am sure that they will not give me. If I go after graduation the more my folks will not let me go. What they say is serve first my parents just to givg them consolation at least for two years. But two years will be a very long term for me. I hope you could give me the best advice you could as to what to do if you were in my place. I’ll be more glad to see your answer in the next issue. Yours in Christ, (Miss) G.G.L. Dear G. G. L. Your problem, unfortunately, is very typical of the majority of our so-called "Catholic" fathers ond mothers. Many of our Filipino parents claim they are good Catholics: they frequent the Sacraments, they send their children to Cotholic schools, and they readily admit thot our priests and nuns are doing immeasurable good. Their children grow up and marry, and nothing is said against their leaving home, even at an early age and before they have helped contribute to the support of their family. Sometimes they make good marriages and sometimes — the tragedy of it — they do not. And yet, when God looks down with special love and attention on one of their children, and calls him or her to the highest vocation in life — to d spiritual marriage with the all good, all loving, all generous Christ, then Heaven help the chosen soul. The things that parents would* stoop to do to prevent their children from embracing the religious life. AUGUST, 1949 29 Mother ho* o heart attack, father threatens everything short of murder. Or more subtly, daughter is packed off for a trip abroad, to see more of life ond know what it is all about ond taste the pleasures one gives up for the restrictions and injunctions of a life bound by the four drab wolls of a cloister. Tears, pleadings, threots, accusations of ingratitude — no weapon is left untried to prevent their child from realising the happiness that can be found only in following God's will. How unreasonable! How un just! But to convince such parents otherwise would require a miracle of God's grace. Since you are not yet 21, you are still bound to obey your parents. I think no horm will result if you finish your normal course first. This will give your parents some satisfaction, and will be useful to you in the convent, especially if you enter an active order. Then perhaps you can come to a compromise regarding your helping them, if they really need financial aid. Of course putting off your entrance too long is not advisable. On the other hand, you are only 18, and a year of two more should not make too much difference, provided you keep up your fervor and presevere in your intentions. The best thing for you to do would be to choose a wise father confessor and consult him regularly. They are the best guides, especially in such matters. This way you will be ossured of steady and dependable counsel for this and other problems that will surely come your way. Manila Dear Miss Marlene: I have been going steady with a girl for one and a half years. We think that we are really in love with each other. Now her parents are sending her to the States for a stay of about four years. We are both willing to wait for each other but as the future seems so un certain we just don’t know what to do. We both want to exchange our class rings as a token of our fidelity to each other. Would that be advisable? She is leaving within a few weeks and we still haven’t arrived at anything definite. Would you help us out? Sincerely yours, B. L. Dear B. L. Four years is a long time. Anything can happen during that stretch. And an exchange of class rings will not do very much. Since it is not probable that you will see eoch other until after four 30 CROSS years, it would not be wise to bind yourselves to an engagement. Or to an arrangement tantamount to one. Both of you are rather young and still studying. It would be to your decided disadvantage to cut yourselves off from other young people, and from the wholesome and carefree amuse ments, parties, outings ond the like so much' a part of youthful social life. So why don't you both remain free and unattached from any serious promises and obligations until such time as you can both seriously con sider marriage? This way you will prevent a lot of useless misunderstandings and heartaches, recriminations and suspicions, that seem to be part and parcel of the period of engagement, which in your case will last a good four long years. Cebu City Dear Miss Marlene, We are officemates. It was inevitable for two hearts like us not to fall madly in love with each other. For one month we just gave fully our love to each other. Alas, now we know better, it is not real love, but infatuation, we had. I noticed she has begun to scrutinize my defects ayd has begun to hate them and me. I too have noticed her defects and I have begun to dislike her more and more. We cannot last long now; we will break up as surely as we were infatuated. But will this mean one of us has to quit the job? To her and to me this would mean big financial loss to our family, not to say to our selves. And jobs now are harder to get. What should I do, Miss Marlene? Sincerely yours, Guilty Dear Guilty, Be glad that both of you have found out in time that your attraction for each other was nothing but a passing fancy. There's nothing wrong in that, nothing to be ashamed of. It happens every day, to a good many couples. So don't think your case is exceptional, or that it calls for some drastic action on your port or hers. Like leaving your job. There's no law against people seeing each other just because * they have found out they no longer care for each other and there's no reason for pretending something that isn't there. Both of you should be adult enough to admit your mistake with good grace and no hard feelings. It may be rather awkward at first, but after some time you will both feel re lieved and glad the whple thing is over and done with. THE APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER CORNER By Rev. Pedro Verceles, S. J. National Director The "shocktroopers" of the Apos tleship of Prayer are the subject of our column this month. In Spanish they ore known as Celadores ond Celadoras. We call them "Pro moters". Chosen from omong the members, Promoters help the Parish priest or Locol Director to organize ond establish the Apostleship of Prayer in their own locolity. Our Statutes require thot they excel in virtue and that they possess ardent zeal to save the souls of others. They should also join piety with action, ond hove a burning zeal and enthusiasm in promoting the Glory of God ond the salvation of souls. They will perform this not by preach ing ond baptizing like the Apostles of old, but by another no less potent meons, namely by spreading the de votion to the Sacred Heart and mak ing others pray. WHAT ARE THEIR DUTIES One of the most important duties of the Promoters is to recruit new associates. The Apostleship, it must be remembered, aims to enroll all the foithful os members. This is also the express wish of the present Holy Father and the late Pope Pius XI of happy memory. To be a member is indeed easy; but to recruit new members is not without its difficulty. This is one reason why some good Catholics hesi tate to become Promoters. It re quires a little more sacrifice. How ever one can be sure that the Sacred Heart will make everything easy and even pleasant if we sacrifice a bit for His love. To make this recruiting business easier, the Nationol Office has print ed several very helpful pamphlets which the Promoters and Locol Di rectors may use with great advant age. There is for instance a leaflet on "Invitation of the Sacred Heart to You," where the nature, purpose, advantages, and even indulgences gained by members are explained. Other leaflets "Invitation from your Pastor", "Son, give me thy heart", are along this same line. They ore written for the purpose of help ing Promoters ond Local Directors in recruiting more members. In all of these leaflets on application blank is conveniently attached, which pro(Continued on page 34) 31 32 THE CROSS Intentions Blessed By The It is os important thot no error be committed in the matter of education os in the matter of pursuing our last end, for the one is necessarily linked with the other: education prepares mon for such a life in this world os would merit the everlasting happiness of the next. For this reason no education is complete unless it is wholly directed toward our lost end, that is to say, unless it is Christian. We must bear in mind thot the child needs instruction not only in the natural sciences, but more so in moral education and habits that go to form his character and conduct. Even before the child learns to spell ond count, he must be trained to respect authority, to tell the truth, to be honest and live as befits a rational being. It is the educa tional work of the school to start rooting out tendencies in the child during his earliest years ond forming good ones. For so difficult a task the Catholic School has the truth of the faith ond grace from obove to guide it, without which it is impossible to overcome passion ond effect o perfect education For this reason the catholic school not only teaches religion dur ing specified class periods, but maintain throughout, in the matter of school discipline, teachers, books, programs and hours of recreation a spirit saturated with the Christian faith and. guided by mother Church. For the most part the religious education of the people is not in the hands of the priest, but ot the mercy of school teachers. A people who knows neither self-respect nor respect for others, who enjoys making fun of persons in authority, gives indications of depravity of char acter, corruption of conscience, ond inability to live in a democratic society such as we have today. A good citizen and a good Christian can be expected only from a school where religion is taught and practice. The child of a catholic fomily should go to a catholic school ond the young mon to a cath olic University. Parents are under the gravest obligations to provide as best they can, along with the temporal wellbeing of their children, AUGUST, 1949 33 Father F or September for their educotion, religious' ond moral as well os physical and civic Mission Intention: Catholic Action in India. The new political set up of India inspired Pope Pius XII to or ganize with great care the catholic action of that great nation. With on era of liberty and national independence have come new problems in public lite, whicn the catholic population under the direction of their Hierarchy should be able to meet with advantage for the pre servation of their praiseworthy national traditions and in conformity with Christian principle. This is the immense task on the shoulders of the secular leaders of the Catholic Action in India, which cries for our prayers this month. Patron Saint: St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist Particular virtue. Promptitude in following the voice of God. Mcxim: When you give alms, let not your left hand know, what your right hand does Rev. Jose Ma. Siguion, S.J. THE APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER presents THE SACRED HEART PROGRAM over Station DZPI 800 on your dial everyday at 5:30 a. m. Tune in on these inspiring and entertaining programs on Social, Sociological and practical topics. Music by famous choirs and soloists. 34 CROSS THE APOSTLESHIP (Continued from, page 31) spective members may fill out, detach and send to the Promoters. In the Statute every Promoter is also required to form a group of 10 or 15 members under his charge. He should see to it that these members fulfill their daily obligation as mem bers. The only essential one of course is to recite daily the "Morning Offering—a requisite for the first degree membership. Of course the zealous Promoter should little by lit tle moke his or her members pass to the second or third degree. The ideal would be to have all under one's charge third degree members. The Promoter Should, wherever possible, hand personally to his charges the monthy leaflets (Inten tions). To use the mail for dis tribution except on rare occasions is to deprive our League of a means of union and fervor second in im portance only to the Promoters' meet ings. The distribution is an opportunity for the Promoters to ascertain whether their charges are faithfully keeping their obligations, besides being an occasion to encourage the first de gree members to advance to the sec ond and third degrees. It is also an occasion for promoters to re ceive and note down any intentions to be prayed for by all members. These notes will be handed over to the Locol Director or Secretory dur ing their monthly meetings, ond will in turn be dropped into the Intention Box commonly placed for the purpose near the Sacred Heart Altar or Shrine. Promoters should, when distribut ing the leaflets make known to their members any notifications or sugges tions they may have received from their local Directors ot the Promoters' meetings. To make a monthly visit to 10 or 15 members may not be too much work for an active Promoter who has at heart the welfare of the Sacred Heart. But to have to visit 20 or 30 members is quite a work. For this reason the handbook advises groups of 10 members under one Promoter. If this number is exceed ed, another Promoter should be trained to head another* group. In this woy the whole parish will hove a thorough coverage under the or ganization. We suggest then that besides their duty of distributing leaflets. Promoters should also recruit more and more members. They should try to get at leost one new member every month. In the Philippines we are still far from realizing the desire of the Holy Father. Out of 16,000,000 Cath olics there are 116,877 associates and 7,742 Promoters. If each of us will work hord enough, we can double this number in no time. It may not be amiss here to relate on edifying experience we have seen and witnessed in a town just at the outskirts of Manila. I was still a AUGUST, 1949 35 Jesuit Scholostic then and I was in vited to this parish. It was on ordinary Sunday and I assisted ot the first Mass'. I noticed at once thot the big church was packed to capacity and it must have easily contained about a thousand people. During Communion, I wos edified to see about one-holf of the After Mass I congratulated him for the excellent number of communic ants in his parish, ond asked him the secret of this extraordinary devotion. He mentioned that it was because of the zeal of the Promoters of the told me that there are as many communions every First Friday. This may be on isolated exomple of the success of the devotion to the Sacred Heart. But I am sure that there ore many other porishes thot have been successful in bringing to the Communion roil numerous souls. especially the men, because of the work of the Promoters ond the Apos tleship of Prayer. It wcs also my personal experience while serving in the army. Let the priests then try to intro duce the Apostleship of Prayer their parishes ond train zealous gradual increose of those who will moters ond they will notice the HORSE SENSE By LEON GARCIA OF FLIES AND MEN by ENRIQUETA LOCSIN The City of Manila reeks with the stench of neglected garbage con overflowing with decaying rubbish. Along our ready-mixed roads stands this unsightly mess. Students passing by ponder on the wisdom of discussing theories on hygiene and sanitation when lawful authority itself merely shrugs its shoulders and covers its nostrils. Yes, there is something wrong with the men paid with the people's money to look after this public nuisance. But the evil has grown to the proportion of a flagrant violation of nature's law. Flies still flock around these dark barrels. But there is one thing that should not be therie. The THING is the boy who cannot afford to study in school and who instead studies from day to day the garbage can and whot's in store for him and his indigent family. How can the dignity of mon stond such a shocking insult? Watch him dive into that nauseating pile. It is astonishing how his will power — rother his will to eat so he could live — could leave his natural sense of smell ot home while dog-like he sniffs from can to can in search of molodorous means to his end. Observe how his hands scratch the filthy bottoms of tin cons, how he scrutinizes with scrupulous intent the tangled, greasy assortment. A fine woy of developing an appetite for a lost meal! His more fortunate brethren hurry past his foul-smelling haven of surprises. Have we ever asked ourselves what he hopes to find in the refuse of society? Scraps, fragments, crumbs of what our covetous disposition hos re fused to share with him. In the garbage can lies hope of a less-hungry tomorrow. 36 AUGUST. 1949 37 Who knows he will grow up a dreamer of that Communist Utopia! (where there will be more cans and less garbage.) As we re-examine our social conscience, — which perhaps is paying Pogon homoge to the glitter and glamour of surplus wealth and living for unnecessarily extravagant parties — we are not bothered much by the garboge flies. But a human being in tattered camiseta and an overpatched short pants keeping vigil at our garbage cans should be a self-explanatory reA FORGOTTEN LETTER OF FRANKLIN Recently, His Eminence Francis Cardinal Spellman addressed the an nual Convention of the American Medical Association, and prefaced his talk by reading a letter from Benja min Franklin written in 1756, which, while imparting consolation to the family of his brother, contained a truly inspiring profession of faith in God, in immortality, and in the one purpose for which life here on earth is given us. We feel that our readers will enjoy this letter, and may wish to clip it for their scrapbook, or for a re-reading when they have occa sion to express their thoughts on the relationship of life here to life here after. The letter follows: “A man is not completely bom until he is dead. Why then should we grieve, that a new child is bom among the immortals, a new member added to their happy so ciety? We are spirits. That bodies should be lent us, while they can afford us pleasure, assist us in acquiring knowledge, or in doing good to our fellow creatures, is a kind and benevolent act of God. When they become unfit for these purposes, and afford us pain in stead of pleasure, instead of an aid become an encumbrance, and an swer none of the intentions for which they were given, it is equally kind and benevolent, that a way is provided by which we be rid of them. Death is that way. We our selves, in some cases, prudently choose a partial death. A mangled painful limb, which cannot be res tored, we willingly cut off. He who plucks out a tooth, parts witl: it; and he, who quits the whole body, parts at once with all pains and possibilities of pains and dis eases which it was liable to, or cap able of making him suffer. “Our friend and we were invited abroad on a party of happiness which is to last forever. His chair was ready first, and he is gone before us. We could all conveni ently start together; and why should you and I be grieved at this, since we are soon to follow, and know where to find him?" 38 THE CROSS TAKE IT. FROM MADAME CHIANG Reading a recent radio speech of Madame Chiang Kai-shek, we were impressed with her directness of speech, her honesty of purpose ond her Sportan courage. She said what was in her heart and in her mind without apology or equivocation. With regard to the world problems growing out of the wor, she applied the fundamental Christian principles, saying most emphatically that the eternal verities connot be tampered with, not even by sagacious states men and shrewd diplomats. Ponder the following and judge for yourself: "Religion on which the doors of diplomacy seem to have been stem med is the moin pillar of civilization. Without it there con be no inter national righteousness, no justice, no common decency, no guaranteeing of the honor of the pledged word. Without religion no state can long endure. Thot should now be clear enough. If religious principles gov erned oil treaty makers, there would be no treaty breakers. If religious feelings beat in the hearts of wouldbe destroyers, there would be no de struction. When national conscious ness and individual consciousness are developed through belief in reli gion, when religion is accepted as the central pivot and the motivating force of life and conduct, then the doom of civilization may be averted, but not till then." We can only add that unless those who sit at the peace table keep be fore them the Christian principles stressed by Madame Chiang Kaishek, they will labor in vain. LIVING E. JUCO To blink at the pink blush of dawning To toil in the glare of the day. And sigh with relief when the darkness Fast follows the dusky gray. To rest in the ebony evening. To goze at the star-pricked night; — And wait for the silent servant To blow out the candlelight. This spell is what mortals call Living: A cycle of laughter and teors,— Till Death, like a kindly rig driver, stops The wheel of the yellowing years. An extract from the definitive biography of Tiqualon Politico Mr. Politico: Genius by DR. TARAPOK (Another Politician) It is election time again in Guinhalaran. Feelings ore running high; not over the candidates, however; nor over the issues of the day; but over one mon whose name, though legend, is not even in the ballot — Mr. Tiqualon Politico. Mr. Politico is an institution in the town. He not only lives" up to his name; he was born into it, like a child into a diaper. It is said that he first saw the light of day inside a soap-box ond that he learned to blow a smoke-ring from a "Havana" cigar before he knew how to feed from a bottle, but all this is apocry phal and cannot be substantiated from the Congressional Record. According to well-informed circles he spent the formative years of his boyhood in politically "barnstorming" the province with his father. Al though still too young to display his forensic prowess at thot time, he was old enough to haunt the plat form with his ubiquitous pitcher of water, ond to dash to his father's rescue,whenever that grizzled veter an, parched-dry — more from the scorching heat of his speeches than from the noonday sun — eyes luster less, ears wiggling, tongue lolling, would grosp the table with trembling hands ond shaking knees and mut ter faintly, plaintively to his Samari tan—offspring; "Gunga Din, waAt an age when normal boys were sprouting premature white hairs in trying to decipher the hieroglyphics of Homer; at a period when the youth of the land were succumbing by the carloads to epidemics of in fluenza in their herculean efforts to compose humorous Sunday composi tions,' young Tic wos always before the sound — and bedroom — mir rors; practising his voice before the former and his smile before the lat ter. Every day for fifteen minutes he read Dale Carnegie on his knees; and it is the consensus of opinion that he deposited that "portentous and predestinate volume" next to his heart whenever he slept. Once a week he browsed in the library of the town barber, and wellauthenticated sources inform us that he manifested a pronounced procli vity to books on rhetoric. His neighbors, old men ond women now, whose veracity we cannot for a moment doubt, attest to the fact that the pellucid air of the night was often rudely shattered by guffaws of rau cous laughter which were invariably 39 40 THE CROSS followed by weird, bizarre, and grotesque words like "non sequitur", "post hoc ergo propter hoc", "non causa pro causa", "secundum et simpliciter" and the like. "That was me", Mr. Politico would afterward odmit blushingly, "that was me—debating with myself." So complete had been the educa tion of this amazing prodigy that by the time he reached the age of majority he never spoke simple de clarative sentences anymore; he never answered with a mere "yes" or a naked "no" but always modified his statements with disarming cliches like "it seems to me", "in my humble opinion" ond "at least that's what I think"; he never contradicted his opinion with "There is something in what you soy" and other rhetorical palliative to that effect. With the passage of time he be came a more and more consummate orator. Other politicians considered themselves a success if they .could strike a responding chord in their hearer's emotions; Mr. Politico com posed a symphony from the heart strings of his audience every time he spoke in public. The years have been kind to him: olthough they had harvested the crop of hair from his head, they compen sated him by the extra poundage of flesh which they added to his pros perous waistline. . .may ,the gods of Mt. Olympus be propitious to him! anyone openly but always prefaced Catholicism vs. Communism The Fight Is On by VICENTE VILLAMIN Bulletin Correspondent The heod-on struggle between Catholicism and Communism, with the Pope's decree of automatic and complete excommunication of any Catholic who gives oid or comfort to the Communists, will, above all things, show the power of organiza tion over unorganization or disorgan ization. The Communists ore well and solidly organized, wherever they are, for political action. Although in their totality they represent but a smoll fraction of the population, they ore effective. The Catholics ore in the overwhelming majority even in the Russian satellite countries, but they are not organized for political action, ond that is their disadvan tage in their struggle with the Com munists. In Poland, there are 21, 712,000 Catholics, representing 91.3 per cent of the total population, according to the Catholic Almanac, and there are only on estimated 1,000,000 Com munists, and yet the latter have much more power than the former. In Czechoslovakia, they ore 8,500,000, 69.8 per cent of total popula tion, ond 1,000,000 Communists. In Hungory, 7,017,761 Catholics, 74.8 per cent of population, and 1,000,000 Communists. In Yugoslavia, 6,031,156 Catholics, 38.7 per cent of population, and 500.000 Com munists. In Rumania, 1,700,000 Catholics, 10.3 per cent of the pop ulation, and 1,000,000 Communists. In Albania, 104,216, 9 per cent of population, ond 50,000 Communists. In other parts of Europe the pro portion between Cctholics ond Com munists are given by the Catholic Almanac as follows: Holy, 45,470,000 Cotholics, 99.4 per cent, 2,283,000 Communists; Ireland, 2,773,920 Catholics, 91.8 per cent, 1,000° Communists; Aus tria, 5,938,000 Cotholics, 85.8 per cent, 150,000 Communists; France, 31,000,000 Catholics, 75.4 per cent, 1,000,000 Communists; Bene lux (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxem bourg), 11,633,959 Catholics, 63 per cent, 160,000 Communists; Western Germany, 20,000,000 Cath olics, 29.7 per cent, 2,250,000 Com munists; Great Britain, 3,809,766 41 42 THE CROSS Cotholics, 7.7 per cent, 50,000 Com munists. The Communist appeal to Cath olics in places where they are in the majority is to make it appear that communism is purely political and nationalistic and has nothing to do with religion, although at the same time they ore trying to abolish reli gion, calling it the opiate of the peo ple. With duress and threats of some form or another, some Catholics, without giving up their religion, hove embraced communism, at least, out wardly. The persecution of Catholics in the satellite countries, beginning with those in high hierarchic authority, is a deliberate attempt to suppress Catholicism, but it is being done hypocritically as an ordinary 'prosecu tion under the criminal code for violation of laws. The Communists are not beneath concocting, invent ing and even imagining evidenciory proofs against the victim. They do not stop at anything in their mad and sadistic determination to destroy reli gion in order to-strengthen the faith •of people in their new political reli gion, Marxism, which is pure, brutish materialism that makes man the slove an'd tool of the state. It is the Catholic leaders every where who first sow the donger ond insidiousness of communism ond they fought it when so-called "liberals" -were toying with it as a sort of lib eralism in action, even if that action involved the slaughter of many mil lions of innocent non-believers or per sons who hod no capacity to under stand communism. It is, therefore, but logical that the head of the Catholic Church, should take con crete, unequivocal action to keep its faithful cdherents Inside the titadel of Catholicism. This is not organ izing politically; it is merely remind ing that Catholics cannot be Com munists at the same time. In this way, though silently, number may outweigh organization in the strug gle between religion of all denomina tions and communism that seeks do mination. The decree of the''Congregation of the Holy Office which was issued with the imprimatur of Pope Pius XII is bound to be one of the great land marks in the history of the Catholic Church. It will be a powerful force to repel the .advance of communism everywhere. There are 400,000,000 Catholics all over the world, two times more than the population of Soviet Russia. There are only some 20,000,000 Communists in all countries, or only 5 per cent of the Catholics. If other religious groups should take os resolute ond resounding action against communism as fias the Cath olic Church, the moral forces of mon kind would be deployed in a formid able and invulnerable phalanx against the Communist threat- to the system of religion, morals and ethics that has existed in the world for two thousand "The voice of one crying in the wilderness..." Who Am I? by CRESCENCE A. BURGUNDER I am come out of clay and stone and wood and rushes. No one knows how long ago, and no ones cares to remember; From sheep and calves, from herbs and bark and berries. Came I colored forth. I am sprung immaterially, too: Out of man's need, his knowledge, and his loves. Out of ancient Assyria, where they wrote on sun-baked tablets. Out' of old, old China—Cathay, you know—with its books of blocks, Out of the East with its mysterious inscriptions. From papyrus growing tall along the banks of the Nile — I must admit my debt, as block and red on white. From Athens, Jerusalem, and Rome, on vellum ond on parchment Made from skins, my authority and might increased; And in a strange New World men from the Old One Recognized my worth in signs and pictures Thot they read on birch bark, or saw carved And etched on walls in prehistoric caves. Plato, too, hod his dork cave—Remember?— The cave of the Idea and the Shadow of the Real. And Christ, Who came to be the Way to Light, Was bom in a Cave. This is the Mystery of the Incarnation. But men had need to know the Mystery, to learn The Truth, and be made free. The Press was the Answer! And Europe answered to thot need. While it had light and time and reason It repaid, in new illumination, the labors of monastic love, The long, cold hours in Benedictine-ruled -scriptoria, With a method to make men see more quickly. An easier way to warm ond move their hearts. So Movable Type wos the Idea (one thot escaped Plato and Aristotle) Thot moved a whole new profession into being By the grace of God working in souls like Gutenberg, 43 44 THE CROSS Aldus Monutius, Caxton, and the Etiennes. In their doy the typical press was a religious one— Run by men who believed in the Typical Man Who redeemed us all from our primeval darkness. Who am I then? I am the Voice of the Holy Father As he has said himself, speaking from the Eternal City; I am the urgency of all good bishops, priests, editors, ond scribes; I continue on for Newman, Chesterton, and Leo,— The words of Alphonsus, Bonaventure, and Aquinas I reiterate. I sing again for Caedmon, Dante, and Hroswitha— I restir the dust of Bernard, Bede, and Basil, Restate the glowing aims of Ambrose and Augustine. DeSales the courtly is my patron; Jerome the careful is my curator.' Who am I? Let Paul of Tarsus post the word to all. Define me in new terms, for him and Peter. Who am I? Find me in symbols, four heraldic And old: the man, the lowing ox, the lion in the square. And scan the sky for meaning and the flight Of one immortal eagle. Yes, you should know me now— The echo of one crying in the ever-present wilderness. I om a steady beacon sweeping the dark corners of the earth In a wide arc, raying hope by Light both Old ond New. I am a revibration of the strings of David's horp, The whisper now ond then of Beatitude upon a Mount— The record of Eternal Authorship speaking in a cloud, well-pleased, And bidding all to hear, by Whose some Spirit I would speak If you do not know, then know me now: I am, Freely ond fully and faithfully, Your humble and devoted servant. The Catholic Press. SO LITTLE TIME In a lifetime of 70 yean, three yean are spent In education; eight in amusements; six ot the dinner table; five in transportation; four in conversation; 14 in work; three in reading; 24 in sleeping. Of the three yean remaining, going to Mass every Sunday and five minutes prayer every morning and evening would take five months. Everybody's talking of petab or Oar Lady's "tears" . . . We Go To Lipa By RAOUL M. BARLOW, SJ. The bus driver kept his gaze trained closely on the rood to avoid as many bumps as possible, while we in the bus were lost in the silence of our morning prayer. Occasionally I would look up and out through the window at the world which was waking up to another day even as we passed. I must admit my thoughts were turning every cor ner that the bus did and meditation even on our Lady's coming at Lipa wos a catch and go affair. But on that morning I would not have hod it otherwise. Our Lady hod appeared ot Lipa and we were going there to see if we could catch a spark of her flame ond to pray — to pray for many things. Each pass ing scene melted into- my memory ond I promised I would pray for the souls I passed by the way. The bus jogged quickly to the right; we were taking a detour through o field, it seemed. I looked out ogain ocross the burnt grass and the dusty shacks pitched here and there in huddled poverty. As we creaked along, I caught a glimpse- of o bombed-out building ahead of us. The sun was streaming into its windows, fringing with shad ows every doorway. A candle, I thought, held before the hollow face of death. I wandered into a minute's dreamland. Whot faces hod smiled from those windows? What lips had broken into sunny laughter? Whot had it been? A school, I thought, where boys and girls ran down its wide corridors and where o classroom's life had hummed behind each closed door before— Ex cuse me, Mary, my mind is off base again. Mary, we call you our sweetness and our hope. Bring Christ's sweet ness and hope to those shut eyes and hushed voices. A child cried in a dust covered nipa hut by the way and I awoke ogain to prayer. Again I was conscious of the creak ing jolting bus and my knees prod ding the seat ahead of me. We were in Manila now. I hod planned to look out here to gather some inten tions for prayer. There were the same streets I had seen twenty times before, crowded alley ways where life streamed through, bustling, dust stirring life, where a thousand tears hid behind the morning's washed faces. Yes, I had seen this all before, but today—today somehow I photograph ed each sight to hold for Lipa. The 45 46 THE CROSS policeman directing the recalcitrant office workers to wait their turn; the "jeepneys" pirouetting in and out arid bustling to the comer with their pas sengers packed into the seats in the rear; the Chinese merchont pulling up the wooden facing of his store; if any of these needed you, Mary — you and Your Son — I was going to be their priest and ask. Manila is calling, Mory, — dustbathed, shackfilled Manila is calling! Be its sweetness too, O Holy Mother of God. The bus lurched over a bump onto a well-paved, concrete highway from which I caught glimpses of the bay. The sun was up, sparkling on the new house tops ond smiling at the antics of a little lad pushing his sister in a cart, as we passed by. The rest in the bus were talking now. Meditation was over but some how my mind didn't leave my electric prayer of looking out the window of our crowded bus. A passing car where the more wealthy were taking the morning's air, the jeepney driver fixing a flat at the roadside, the bright, young faces of schoolgirls waiting for their bus, all these were grist for my mill of intentions and I continued to pray. At an intersection where the road was being repaired our pilgrimage halted. I scanned the horizon of vendors' faces as they pushed up their buns and candy for us to see. A moment and my eyes caught upon an old lady at the edge of the crowd with her tray of wares. +f I had ever believed that age itself could exist here it was. Sparse grey hair under a black lace shawl that had known better days, a wrinkled brow and eyes — eyes like sparkling black jewels set in pain, eyes that I imagined were trying to tell me to include a respite to pain in my prayers too. Around these eyes were the lines of age, deepened into crevices by many a tear and an occasional smile. I was seized with the urge to buy all the food she had. I would have too, but money isn't a Jesuit's strong point and my pockets were bare. I wanted to coll too, to tell the old lady of the way thot I would remem ber her. I, wanted to ask her name ond hear her story and dry her tears. . . but we were moving and the scene passed into the morning beLipa City. The bus came to a halt and after a stop at o friend's house where we washed the dust off, I walked to the shrine. Through the row of sawali shacks with their gaudy signs, across the dusty valley before the shrine and under the sheet-metal roof we went with a thousand thoughts buzzing in our heads. I watched the pilgrims from behind. Some knelt, looking at the statue, running prayerful beads through their hands ond I'm sure Mary was listen ing. Others crowded around the lottery booth where the announcer was calling for the lottery applica tions to be brought in. I elbowed my way into a pew and tried toremember all my intentions. AUGUST. 1949 ♦7 The talk of petals seemed to be everywhere and several people sug gested that I try the lottery too. I fumed bock to prayer, but the lottery ond the petal seekers hod stung my conscience ond another remark made long ago in a poem I hod. read leapt kito my mind. I couldn't remember the poem exactly but the meaning was fresh, too fresh and biting. It ran: Everyone is searching for petals. • On every side that's all you hear, petals, petals, petals. I was doing thot myself until one day last week when the thought came to me that the petals are Our Lady's tears! I left my pew and made my way eito a little chapel where the Blessed Sacrament wos reserved. An outsister was preparing for Benediction and I hod a short while to pray. The anrxxjncer's voice broke into my <>jiet with the names of the people who had received petals but I turned resolutely bock. The memories crowded in and os they did, I sped them to Our Lord through Mary's hands. I sow again the gutted building and the merry faces; I heard the lonely, poor child's cry. I begged Mary to spread her mantle over dusty Manila and to bring her sweetness to the lives of its folk. I prayed thot the old lody by the wayside might find rest at Mary's side when she should die. I tried to crowd everyone into the few minutes I had, as I thanked the Virgin Mother of God for coming right down into our streets os her Son has done. A minute went by and I found my self staring at the flame of the monstrance and my voice straining at the chords of 0 salirtaris Hatha. After oil, what more could I have csked. Mary, os at Bethlehem hod brought us Her Son. Modernism symbolises Hie unrest, the discontent and the confusion oF our age Revolt In Art by MILAGROS ICASIANO CORONEL Professor in Art, UST This is the age of great upheavals. Upheavals in political philosophy, psychology, economics, art. Nay, in almost every field of human endea vour. The revolution in art, like the rest, is marked by violence, daring, ra dicalism, unreasonableness, and at times, even by insanity and primitive savagery. It is by nature on iconoclast. It leans towards the extreme, groping for want of purpose. It experiments in its utter wont of experience. It is grotesque and bizarre. It is ex aggerated like a parody or a cartoon. It is wanting in order and is dis torted. For it is a cogent change, an acute swerving at a turning point. It champions absolute freedom from time-honored ties. It is as loose and as wild as a long-inhibited urge freshly released. To Cezanne, Van Gogh, Manet and Pissoro are attributed the ear liest beginnings of this modern revo lution in art. France had always been the shrine of the world famous Gothic cathedrals, distinguished for their lace-like delicacy of decora tions, their elaborate pointed arches, ribbed vaulting, flying buttresses ond their highly ornamental rose win dows. But theje men, together with.the Impressionists ond post impression ists, first "feelers" of modernism in art, revolted against this smooth tex ture, the delicacy ond fine finish ad vocated by academic art. Cubism which is another form of modem art, found its exponent in the . Spanish-French painter Picasso. Cub ists stress space and volume and limit their expression to geometric forms. By this they seek to bring to the fore significant forms ond definite aethestic feelings. The group of modernists known os expressionists and headed by Matisse tries to emphasize the inner emotions ond ideas and relegate actual ap pearance in their work. Other phase of Modernism in art are futurism ond surrealism. The former endeavours to portray the movement ond change rather than the appearance at any particular time of objects. The latter abounds in symbolism since it paints from sub ond not conscious, ob conscious. servation of the real appearance of things. Modernism in art is apt to have innumerable types since it advocates freedom and individualism. It also has an element of despair. A des pair ot the state of things. A des48 AUGUST, 1949 49 pair which has driven it to undertake such an extreme measure as revolu tion. Yet it abounds with new life and vigor and blood and inspiration with crazy hopes and exaggerated expec tations. Only its own maturity will sober it dawn and its disillusionmen. teach it moderation. Modernism symbolizes the unrest, the discontent and the confusion of our age. It also expresses modem man's rebellion ventionalism in life. Modem art is essentially a revolt. In their protestation against overrationalism in art, the modernists fall into the opposite extreme of irra tionality and discord. In their fight against over-emphasis of order and proportion their works show a worw of order and fondness for distortion. In their effort to correct photo graphic representation of nature, they have discarded real appearances of objects. In their desire to give dominance to the idea in art, they have forgot ten the importance of form. In their zeal to defeat over-dominance of science, craftsmanship, utility, ma terialism, industrialism, commercial ism, they have returned to the pri mitiveness and savage unrestraint of uncivilized art. Certainly it is not the extreme, ex aggerations and distortions of mod ernism in art that will last. But these will bring in a new era in the art cycle. In the evolution of art this modem revolution will be swallowed. The extreme edges and sharp angles of the crude beginnings of this mod em art trend will be rounded and fin ally rolished. It will learn modera tion and respect for standards and principles. It will become reasonable and pleasing. It will become accept able and orderly ond rational. But it will be an art trend which will be characterized by the domin ance of idea over form, of soul over matter, of emotions over mere ap pearances. It will be an art that will not be scientific and it will try to make itself a means of more direct BUT THE FLESH IS WEAK Some Spiritualists once persuaded Charles Dickens to attend one of their seances and acked him whot spirit among the departed he would like to see. He considered the question briefly and suddenly thought of a lately departed friend, a celebrated grammarian. "Summon Lindley Murray," he said. Soon they told him that Lindley Murray was in the room. "Are you Lindley Murray?" asked the doubting Dicken*. "I are," came the ghostly reply. That was Dickens' last experiment in spiritualism. 50 THE CROSS cious of the artist and that of the observer, avoiding the distractions of fineness, prettiness, irrelevant details and ornaments which often become obstacles to the realization of true intrinsic beauty. By then modern art will no longer be modern. It will have reached the acme of perfection and it will per haps be known by another and more appropriate name. We cannot pronounce any judg ment with certainty on the presence or absence of artistic beauty in the individual works of the pioneers of modern ort. Only future history will show, how many of the modernists will have contributed to the mould ing of the true lasting form which will blossom in the future. However, those who go to extremes for the love of the extreme, and not ■for the sake of reformation; those who believe that art consists in no velty, ■ in' absolute unrestraint, and those, who think that individuality and originality are best exemplified by expressing whatever enters their mind, whim or fancy. . . these men cannot be real artists. But not all modernists are like these. There are the true artists among the champions of modernism in art. They possess sincerity and zeal. Their works bear the true marks of true art pieces. They have expressed the fast tempo, the rest lessness, the discontent of our age. Art's cycle requires that its begin ning consists mostly of inspiration with very little and crude technic; that it gather better technic as it grows without losing its inspiration, thot its zenith be distinguished by the happy blending of intense inspi ration ond perfect technic; that its decadence be characterized by the lessening of inspiration, qntil it be comes pure technic, craftsmanship, imitation. If we realize that appreciation of the beautiful in art is subjective, and that some great artists had been thought crazy by their contempora ries, we shall not find it hard to be more kind in our judgment of our contemporary modernists. There is every reason to hope for another bright doy in ort. PONTIUS PILOT The Sister hsd distributed paper and crayons to the 2nd-grade class' and had asked them to draw a picture of the Holy Family. Among the many original portraits was Totoy's. It showed four passengers in an oirplane: three with halos. "I recognize the Holy Family, Totoy," Sister said. "But who is the fourth passenger in the plane?" Totoy looked up at her incredulously. "Sister, don't you know? That's Pontius, the Pilot." Almighty and everlasting God who in the abundance of Your lovingkindness go beyond the deserts and desires of Your suppliants, pour forth Your mercy upon us so thot You will forgive what we feel guilty of in our consciences and also grant us those blessings for which we dare not prayCollect for the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost. Almighty and everlasting God who in the abundance of Your loving-kindness go beyond the deserts and desires of Your suppliants— God's mercy is above oil His works. . . As o loving father He does not measure out things gingerly to us. . . He punishes less and rewords more than we deserve. . . and He reads the innermost longings of our hearts. . . Pour out Your mercy upon us— thot is why You become mon. . . thot is why You died. . . that is why You hove soid— "If Your sins be os scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; and if they be as red as crimson, they shall be as white as wool" (Isaias 1:18).. "Con a womon forget her infont, so as not to have pity on the son of her womb? And if she should forget, yet will not I forget you. Behold, I have graven You in my hands" (Isaias 49:15, 16)... Forgive what we feel guilty of in our consciences— the greater sins by which we have insulted You. . . the lesser sins by which we have strained our friendship. . . the petty meannesses. . . all the faulty loves. . . the hidden hates. . . Also grant us those blessings for which we dare not pray— there is much, very much we would want to hove, but we just can't bring ourselves to ask for it oil. . . day-dreaming? No, but just the aching of o heart that needs Infinity to fill it. . . 51 52 THE CROSS but "He knows the stuff of which we are mode" (Ps. 102:14) .. . And, looking into our inmost souls. He reads our deepest, most hidden cravings. . . His promise is still good "Come to me. . .and I will give you rest" (Matth. I 1 :28) . . . O my God I need Your help, the help that only You can give. My life and my heart are a puzzle to me. My sins disturb me and the voiceless cravings of my heart puzzle me. But You read them all aright and "You are rich in mercy to heal the wounds of our souls." So with the publican from my heart I proy "O God, be merciful to me a sinner." GIVE ME SOULS He didn't make black souls, Didn't make white soule. Didn't make yellow nor browrj; And He died for the block souls. The yellow and brown souls. This God of the thorny crown. He's the God of the white child. The God of the black child. The crippled, the half, and the lome. And He'll answer, the yellow child. Answer the brown child. Whenever they breathe His name! He didn't dk for white souls. Didn't die for black souk. All the children of men are His love; And there won't be any yellow souk. Won't be any brown souk. In His home and Hk Kingdom above. You haven't got a yellow soul. Haven't get a brown soul, Though tbe East er West be your home. Yea haven't got e white soul. You haven't got a black soul. But a soul thot He made like His own! —Archbishop Cushing US SENATORS DEFEND SPAIN We Yield To The Senators (From The US Congressional Record) One of the most omezing puzzles of our time continues. The United Stotes continues to send on ombossedor to Moscow, but refuses to send one to Madrid. Why? The United States foreign trade is on the decline, but she refuses te do normal trade with Spain. Why? The US has lost the sale of more than 300,000 boles of cotton from 1946 to 1948, says Sen. Wherry. That number of bales could hove been sold to Spain. It wasn't. Why? Here ore a few more puzzles, culled from a discussion of the United States official attitude toward Spain, es reported in the Congressional Re cord — Senate, May 10, 1949, pages well of Uncle Sam. But — we yield to the Senators. Mr. McCARRAN. Mr. President, upon inquiry made of the Secretary of State by members of the Appro priations Committee as to why Spain had not been given diplomatic recog nition, the Secretary of State was exceedingly evasive. He seemed to try to ovoid the subject by saying thot there is a chorge d'affaires there. But, Mr. President, that does not constitute full diplomatic accord. Anyone conversant with diplomatic relations will immediately recognize thot the mere presence of a charge d'affaires in a notion, after a minister or ambassador has been withdrawn, 6068 t« 6079. They do not speak does not evince full diplomatic re lations ond accord. We hove not in this country recognized the ambas sador who is offered to us by Spain. In this hour, when this nation is fighting the greatest enemy of in dividual human liberty the world has ever known, is leading, if you please, the vanguard of democratic people for human freedom in the years to come, why is it, I osk, that our State Department refuses to recognize dip lomatically a notion thot has been fighting communism for the post 25 years, long before we entered into the Second World Wor; o nation 53 54 THE CR0S9 which has stood firmly all the time, by its arms and its economy and its government activities, against the spread of communism in Europe; a nation which if It were to be token over by the Communist forces today or tomorrow, would lend greater weight to communism than any step communism hos been able to take? Mr. President, why is it, may the Senate ask, that the State Depart ment refuses to recognize Spain? Let us go further and ask, why was it that on lost Saturday, when the ques tion came up before the Council of the United Nation, the Government of the United States refused to vote? Why was it that it stood mute, at c time when democracy everywhere was looking to this country for lead ership, when individual human liberty was praying to this nation and to the Western Hemisphere to lead the countries of the world out of the bondage in which they are now held by communistic forces? Why was it that ot thot hour, when we could hove struck a blow for freedom, when we could have said a word that would have given encouragement to the democratic nations of the world, we remained mute in the United NaMr. ROBERSTON. . . I wish to ask the distinguished Senator if he does not feel that we could accelerate what he has in mind if the Spanish Government would recognize religious freedom in Spain. Mr. McCARRAN. Mr. President, if it is stated’that the Spanish Gov ernment does not recognize religious freedom in Spain, that statement is false propaganda. Religious freedom is recognized in Spain, and there are in Spain those of nearly every deno mination in the world, and they at tend their respective places of wor ship. There is circulated in this country, I know, the charge • thot there is not religious freedom in Spain, but the best advice I can re ceive from every source is to the contrary. Mr. McCARRAN. Mr. Presidenr.. I do not wish to take the time of the Senote for too long, but I wish to dwell on a few cogent facts, as brought out by the Secretary of State before the Appropriations Committee. He stated thot the credit of Spain wos not good. Yet, Mr. President, during the last year the trade be tween Spain and Great Britain amounted to $450,000,00. Thot looks as though somebody thought the credit of Spain wos fairly good. While undoubtedly British pounds Were in that particular line of trade between those two countries, my re collection is that we appropriated last year and will appropriate again this year $5,000,000,000 to stabilize the currency of Great Britain. So that if the credit of Spain is not Sood, then the American dollar, through the agency of Great Britain, certainly is making it good. Mr. WHERRY. Figures bonded me show that the United States has lost the sale of more than 300,000 bales of cotton. That number of bales AUGUST, 1949 5S could hove been sold to Spain during those two years (1946-1948). I should like to ask the distinguish ed Senator from Nevada a question. Does hfc recoil the question asked in Committee by the junior Senator from Nebraska of the Secretary of State? The question asked by the Senator from Nebraska was why there should be any condition imposed on Spain in connection with ECA? The Sen ator may recall that the Secretary of State's reply to the question wos that the United States was not im posing any credit conditions on Spain. Then I asked the Secretory why it wos thot Spain wos not odmitted to ECA benefits, because all we are trying to do is to rehabilitate the countries of Europe. The Senator may recall that the Secretary's an swer wos thot some European coun tries participating in ECA benefits did not wont Spain to be included in the group receiving ECA benefits. . . I now ask, why should we impose a condition of credit upon Spain when Spain is paying her way, while ot the same time we permit the par ticipating countries in ECA to tell the United States of America not to ex 56 THE CROSS tend oid to Spoin because of condi tions they impose, which are not imposed by the United States of America? * * ♦ ♦ Mr. BREWSTER... lam happy to see that the distinguished chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee is now entering the Chamber. I would ask the Senator from Texas whether he can explain to the Senate why it is thot we can have an Ambassador in Moscow, and not have one in Ma drid? Mr. CONNALLY... I hove nevei seen any logic in maintaining diplo matic relations with Russia, for ins tance, while refusing diplomatic rela tions with Spain. If there is any danger or threat in either one of them, it is certainly not very great in the case of Spain. . . I may say to the Senator, however, that there is among certain foreign nations great bitterness toward Spain. I think it is pressure from those nations which has influenced 001 State Department ond 'others to re fuse recognition to Spain on on am bassadorial basis. We have our charge d'affaires ot Madrid, bat that is not comparable to an ambassador ship. Mr. BREWSTER. I can conceive of no more pitiful spectacle than that of the United States, which -we thought was to lead the democratic world back to peace and security, standing silent (in the United Na tions) while one of the most mo mentous issues was being decided, having no mind of its own, complete ly frustrated by the/situation. My president, I think It is time we examined some of the reasons for thot frustration, which are known to every member of the Senate,, how ever undesirable it may seem thot they should be discussed. The subtle word is constantly passed thot the alternative to communism is Cath olicism. We know that word is uttered constantly in the lobbies although". Senators do not care to bring it out upon the floor. We are even told that some very distinguished mem bers of the Americon delegation are those who are most earnest in their opposition to the recognition of Spoin, because, forsooth, Spain is a Cath olic country. It is high time that the American people decided to' tear the mask from this situation.... I think it is high time that the American people, not merely in the , interest of our own self-respect, not merely in the interest of consistency in the conduct of our diplomatic re lations, not merely in recognition of <a century of tradition when we have recognized powers which hove been «d long established, but in the in terest of our own security and pro gress toward the peace we all Re sire, should tear the mask from the subtle influence which now keep us silent and mute in the United Nations when it is to be determined whether diplomatic relations shall be normal ized with the Government of Spain. For Rita Hayworth: Only Pity The Hayworth Affair The papers hove recently been very critical, and justify so, of the conduct of Rita Hoyworth, who married a moslem and who, according to reports, has agreed to rear whotever children moy be bom to the marriage os Mohammedans. Of course, Rita Hayworth has long been out of the Church, al though the papers have been tell ing the world that she i* a Roman Catholic. She now becomes an apos tate from Christianity itself, ond, like Judas, has sold Christ to His enemies. Mohammedans are not only non-Christian, but anti-Christian. Rita may have been glamorous and beoutiful on the screen, but Jimmie Fidler, writing from Holly-wood on January 18, tells us that those were all the characteristics she possessed. Jimmie Fidler says that he himself pities her because her popularity went to her head. He also pities her fans for their "idolatrous treatment accorded her in the post few years." This adulation, he writes "gives such people as Mitchum and Hayworth strangely distorted perspecFidler continued: "The new traveling companion of Aly Kahn was blessed with beauty rather than with mentality." Beauty could hard ly be called a "blessing" for her if it wos the cause of her ruin. In the early days of motion pic tures the mind of Americans was more in keeping with the divine law, which designates a remarriage after divorce. while the party divorced is still living. "adulterous." When Mory Pickford, also a Cath olic ond, at thot time, called "Amer ica's Sweetheart," was divorced from her husband ond remarried, she lost most of her fans, ond strove to drown her own conscience by embracing a cult which teaches thot sin is only in the mind, but it has no objective reality. At that time the divorcee wos ostracized even in social life by the best people. He or she was'put out of the clubs or organizations to which he or she belonged. The change in the attitude of peo ple towards the sacredness of marri age, and towards divorce does not alter the evil of the latter. In God's eyes it is the same now as it was years ago. The moral low is just as unchangeable as ore the fixed stars in the heavens simply because God Who gave the law cannot change. Change implies instability, and, of course, God is not unstable. He 57 58 would not be infinite wisdom, if He were unstable. Every Christian should accept God's mentality and show resentment to wards those who, like Rita Hayworth, repudiate Him and betray Christ in favor of His enemies. That means, evidently, thot no one with a Chrision mind could, in conscience, pat ronize a movie in which such a char acter would star. If people began to call remarried divorcees by the same name Christ called them, the number would greotly diminish. Divorce which, fifty years ago, was very rore ond which in Canada, England and many other countries was almost non-existent, is, in the United States, almost as com mon os morriage. In fact many cities of the United States hold the unen viable record of having nearly os many divorces as marriages within a given year. Most of them are young people who contract new alliances which are not morriages at all in the eyes of God, and which Holy Script ure calls by the nasty name "adulter ous." If you, and you, and you, and others, whom you might ally with yourself in every community decided to patronize only clean motion, pic tures, and to stay away from those whose stars wed, divorce ond re marry in a short time, it would teach a lesson to Hollywood. Why should we not have a more decent people entertain us in the movies? Whv should we show any consideration for those who, in the eyes of God, are reprobates, and who, unless they undo whot they hove done, are them selves only "having a good time on their way to hell"? Let us hove the mind of God in all matters, and propagate it both for our own merit and for the good of our country. Secondary Principles Coop Without Tears by HAROLD WATSON After laying down the three FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES which were discussed in our last the Rochdole Pioneers also established several SECONDARY PRINCIPLES. The first of these is OPEN MEMBERSHIP o Cooperative is not a mere political clique nor o rociol faction nor a religious group. It aims to subserve its members it does not aim to conserve Conservatives it strives for a LIBERAL ECONOMY not for ECONOMIC LIBERALISM. It is not so much concerned with the BLACK WHITE AND YELLOW it is concerned with a rational economy for the HUMAN RACE. It is catholic in membership not a membership of Cotholics it has its OWN METHODS but has room for Methodists it is not established by or for members of the Established Church. 59 6. In other words it is NEUTRAL to Race Religion and Politics though not indifferent to them (there is a VALID DISTINCTION between NEUTRALITY AND INDIFFERENTISM). 7. When Jew, Cotholic ond Protestant cooperate to sell fish to purchase fish hooks they do so not to perform RELIGIOUS RITES but to protect their common' ECONOMIC RIGHTS. 8. It is not thot they love their respective doctrines less but thot they hate the doctrines of loissez faire more. 9. All this is not to say that "one religion is as good as another" for it is not a question of a compromise of Creeds but a consolidation of credit. 10. For a cooperative does not address its mind to THEOLOGY as such but to ECONOMICS as such and thus SECTARIAN PLURALITY does not exclude ECONOMIC UNITY. 60 THE CROSS 1 1 . As hos been said there is no Catholic way of selling fish therefore the Rochdale Pioneers made the cooperative open to all for the good of all. 12. Secondary Principle number two reods NON MEMBERS MAY BUY THEIR WAY INTO MEMBERSHIP. 13. They may do so by trading with the CO-OP ond thus accumulate the 'profits' on their purchases until these are enough to buy o share. 14. This is in keeping with FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE number three which says that the surplus between full cost price and selling price is an overcharge on consumer, is the PROPERTY OF THE CONSUMER 15. This method tends to develop an attitude towards PROPERTY which is PERSONAL but not PERVERSE ond COMMUNAL but not COMMUNISTIC. THE "ANGELUS" RADIO PROGRAM 6:00 EVERY EVENING DZAB (Dial 860) As a part of the nation-wide campaign against Communism and irreligiousness, the Monila Council pf the Knights of Columbus is inviting all Catholics to revive that beautiful but slightly forgotten custom of reciting the Angelus. The Philippine Broadcasting Company is cooperating with the Knights of Columbus and has generously donated the use of their Station DZAB (Dial 860) every evening at 6:00 to broadcast the ANGELUS DOMINI (ORACION) which is recited by a group of Knights and their families. The broadcasts are in English and in This is the first time in the history of broadcasting in any part of the world that the ANGELUS is aircast as a sperate feature or program. May we therefore solicit your kind cooperation: To spread the news far and wide, to as many people -as passible about this Angelical Salutation to Our l^ady. From Telesforo Dovid CATECHISM BY EAR answered the question in this way: "The sacrament of matrimony is a sacrament by which two people bind themselves in awful wedlock." —Fr. Lord From Antonio Galan FOR POLITICIANS ONLY A surgeon, on architect, and a politician were arguing as to whose profession was the oldest. Said the surgeon: "Eve was made from Adam's rib, and that surely was a surgical operation." "Moybe," said the architect, "but prior to that, order was created out of chaos, and that was an architectural job." "But," interrupted the politician," somebody created the chaos first!" From Rodrigo Reynoso FOR MULES ONLY Rastus: Lookie heah. Sambo, how come yo' teach yo' mule all them tricks? I can't teach my mule nothin'. Sambo: Dot's easy. Yo' has to know mo' than the mule. From Melancia Arcongel SIGN OF THE TIMES Beauty parlor sign: "Don't whistle at a girl leaving here. She moy be your grand mother!" —Comillus From Leonardo Francisco VIEWPOINTS Yesteryear: "I'm home sick." Today: "I'm sick of home." 61 62 THE CROSS From Teodoro Baltazar WHAT'S YOUR RACKET? You can't expect a racketeer to be respectable so long as he does business with the kind of people who would do business with a racke teer. —St. Cloud Advocate. From Mrs. C. Montilla YOU SAID IT "I just got out of prison this morning," a traveller told the man on the bus. "It's going to be mighty tough focing old friends." "I con sympathize with you," commented the other. "I'm just getting home from the Congress Hall." A. ExceUeat Book for the Filip two Yowth THE BIOGRAPHY OF BLESSED MARIA GORETTI Martyr of Parity By Msgr. JAMES MORELLI Charge d'Affaires of the Holy See With the purpose of making known the wonderful life end the heroic death of the youthful Moria Goretti, and of spreading the devotion to her. the author, ot the request of several friends, has prepared, having cs basis the Acts of the Canonical Process, a Biography of the glorious youth, beati fied by the Supreme Pontiff Pius XII on April 27, 1947. ► The perusal of this work, written in clear and simple style ond adapted to the Filipino youth, specialty to the Feminine youth, will also be useful to mothers ond to the man and woman educators who have the mission of moulding in the tender souls of their children and pupils a virtuous life, the love for work and sacrifice, for veneration ond obedience to their poraits and superiors and that sterling Christian character which in the hour of trial knows how to maintain itself above the temptations and the snares of the modem life. It is for this that the ecclesiastical censor of the Archdiocese, the Rev. Artemio Casos, when putting his o. k. on the work of J. Morelli, thus wrote to His Excellency Mons. Rufino Santos, Auxiliary Bishop of Manila, who hod commissioned him to pass judgment on the book: "I have found the work not only free from any dogmatic or moral errors, but even worthy of high praise sod cooMeodctioa. The author has mode a brilliant exposition of Bre life and virtues of "the little nun" of Corina Ido, with practical Mats oad •daptatioas to oar modem ways of life, particalariy with tefereace to the virtue of rhortity. I have no doubt that this work, if printed and spread oroind, will be a good and valuable reoding matter for our modem youth...." The book, dedicated to the Filipino youth and printed in Manila is of a handy size, with covers bearing the image of the Blessed in colors specially designed: over the text it has eight pictures including that of her living Mather. Price P2.00 a copy. Mailed order P2.10 apiece. Orders of 100 or more have a discount of 10%. The Novena to the Blessed Maria Goretti which is now being printed, con also be hod for P0.10. Orders may be sent to Rev. GERARDO SASTRE, O.S.B., San Beda Convent, Manila. 63 RECENT ARRIVALS NEW AND REORDERED BOOKS OUR LADY OF LIGHT, Borthos-Fonesca — Miracles, apparitions, fulfillment of prophecies — all within our own time — constitute this exciting story of Fatima '........................... OUR LADY OF FATIMA, W. T. Walsh — A vivid account of the six appearances of the Virgin to three children in Portugal in 1917. VISION OF FATIMA, T. McGlynn — Fr. McGlynn tells the exclusive story of his visit with Lucy dos Santos, only survivor of the three children to whom the vision of Fatima appeared..............v.......... THE CRUSADE OF FATIMA, J. de Marchi — An occount of Our Lady's apparitions; consists mainly of the direct testimony of Lucio de Santos .................................................................................. THE GLORIES OF MARY, St. Alphonsus Ligouri — Acclaimed the world over as one of the finest, if not the finest, of all books on the Blessed Virgin ........................................................................... THE MASS IN SLOW MOTION, Ronald Knox — The Moss taken step by step, to show what it means to the priest offering it, and what it could meon to the congregation offering it with him................ THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS, Edited by J. A. O'Brien—The wonder ful book that tells how 15 famous Americans found Christ in Catholicisnr.............................................................................................. THREE RELIGIOUS REBELS, M. Raymond — The First Epoch of the SAGA OF CITEAUX presenting three spiritual heroes — Saints Robert, Alberic ond Stephen Harding ........................................... DE LA SALLE, W. J. Battersby — A study of St. John Baptist de Io Solle's greot contribution to the cause of education.................... THE FOLLY OF THE CROSS, Raoul Plus, S. J., translated by Irene P5.25 5.80 5.25 2.75 4 00 5.25' 5.25 5.80 8.75 3.65 33.60 3.70 6.30 8.40 9.45 THE COMPLETE WORKS OF ST. TERESA OF JESUS, Translated and edited by Prof. E. Allison Peers. — a new translation of the Complete Works — oport from the letters — of St. Teresa of Avila, 3 volumes........................................................... Each set at THE MAN FROM ROCCA SICCA, Reginald M. Coffey — With fine and understanding strokes the author depicts t., Thomas Aqui nas, huge, stanch fighter for the truth, in his whole lovable humanity................................................................................................ SECRETS OF THE SAINTS, Henri Gheon — The author sketches the lives and lets us into the secrets of four saints: Margaret Mary, Therese, John Bosco, and John Baptist Vionney........................... AUGUSTINE'S QUEST OF WISDOM, Vernon J. Bourke — A study of St. Augustine's phenomenol moral, intellectual, and philosophical growth from his dissolute youth and his Monicheonism to the end of his earthly days os honored bishop of Hippo............................ THE MYSTICAL EVOLUTION IN THE DEVELOPMENT AND VITAL ITY OF THE CHURCH bv Very Rev. John G. Arintero — A "must" in ony library of spiritual writings................................. Regina Building * 15 Banquero & Escolta * Manila * Tel. No. 2-88-49 liver. CATHOLIC s/iou/d read holy ’ BIBLE Translated from the Latin Vulgate Diligently compared with the Hebrew, Greek and other editions in divers languages. No. 3KB—Designed especially for Catholic schools. Excellent cloth binding with red edges . . P6.30 No. 1KB—Imitation leather, gilt lettering on back bone, gilt title on front cover, square corners, dark yellow edges ....................... 8.10 No. G'KB—Imitation leather, limp, genuine gold lettering on backbone and title on front cover, round corners, red under gold edges, boxed .................................................. 13.15 No. 8] KB—Genuine leather, morocco grain, yftjjp, genuine gold lettering on backbone and title on front cover, round corners, red under gold edges, boxed ............................. 17.35 No. 12.1KB—Genuine morocco leather (best qual ity), genuine gold lettering on backbone, plain sides, lines with imitation leather, round corners, red under gold edges, gold border line, boxed ....................................... 26.35 MAIL ORDERS ACCEPTED ^oofimarfc Regina Building * 15 Banquero & Escolta * Manila ♦ Tel. No. 2-88-49 ^Announcing THE CONGREGATION OF THE MISSIONARY CATECHISTS OF LIPA—C.M.L. Congregacion de Catequistas Misioneras de Lipa This Congregation is a religious corporation established under the authority of the Bishop of Lipa for Catholic women who want to dedicate themselves to the cause of teaching Christian Doctrine in the parishes and in the missions. Like any other religious congregation it has its Postulancv, Novi tiate and Profession of the three monastic vows: Obedience, Poverty, Chastity. Candidates admitted into the Congregation must be from 15 to 25 years of age, as they should be capable pf realizing the aim of the Congregation, namely the teaching of Chris tian Doctrine and the Catholic education of youth. No dowry is required of the aspirants in order to enter. But they should come supplied with the equipments necessary for the Postulancy and Novitiate in accordance with the regu lations of the Constitution. All young women who feel themselves called to the reli gious state are hereby invited and will be amiably admitted so long as they have the personal qualifications demanded by the Constitution of the “Congregation de Catequistas Misior« as Lipenses.” Lipa, The 1st of June, 1949 For further information tvrite SOR MA. LAURA, C. M. L. Superior General Convei/o de Religiosas Catequistas de Lip Lipa, Barangas