Catholic World

New Zealand Tablet, Volume LI, Issue 52, 31 December 1924, Page 55

Catholic World

CARDINAL COMMENDS HOLY NAME SOCIETY. "The veneration and love of Christ's sacred Name is the miraculous' power which saved Europe to civilisation again and again." Cardinal O'Connell, Papal Legate to the national convention of the Holy Name Society at Washington, U.S., made the above statement in an address to the delegates. "When the utter ruin and destruction of all law and learning threatened humanity in the degeneracy and the utter downfall of Greece and Rome, when later the barbaric tribes from the North and the East threatened to overwhelm all culture and learning and all civil order, it was the power and love of the Holy Name, held fast in the hearts of Christian men, that stemmed the tide of utter desolation and complete destruction, and patiently and laboriously sustained the very foundations of human culture and morality."

A Splendid Array.

He said when, centuries after, the division of Christendom, hitherto one and united, hurled all Europe into a conflict so enormous and so fratricidal that the fundamental principles of Christianity itself seemed on the very verge of decay and death, again it was the men of the Holy Name who, when the din of battle had passed and the clouds of confusion had rolled away came out of the conflict unwounded and unharmed — strengthened by the conflict for greater endurance and nobler triumphs.

“It was clear that the men who are faithful to the Holy Name and what that name stands for, constitute a splendid array of the finest elements upon which the welfare of any country may absolutely depend.

“Respect for authority? Why, as children they have understood this. It is no Dew doctrine for them. It is the foundation of their spiritual and civic life. Obedience to 1 aw? Why, this is part and parcel of the fibre of their very souls.

ASCETICAL CONGRESS OPENS IN SPAIN. The ascetical congress, which is being held in Valladolid in commemoration of the tercentenary of the famous Jesuit ascetieal writer, Ven. Lewis de la Pont, was opened on October 23, by Pontifical Mass celebrated in the Cathedral by the Archbishop of Valladolid, with a sermon by the Bishop of Segovia. At mid-day there was opened, in the library of the Holy Cross College, an exhibition of books and other objects relating to the venerable ascetic. The discourse was pronounced by the Rector of the University of Valladolid, Don Calixto Valverde. The attendance at the congress is very satisfactory. A large number of capitular dignitaries have come to attend, as the Pope has given special permission for such to absent themselves from their choir duties.

The congress continues to the 30th, when the Archbishop will close the ascetieal week in his Cathedral by imparting the Papal Benediction. The daily sessions consist of an interesting series of lectures on ascetieal teaching in Spain. The lecture on the first day was on the beginnings of the Spanish ascetical school. On the second day the mitred Abbot of Silos spoke on Spanish Benedictine ascetics. On the following days lectures were given on the Franciscan, Carmelite, and Augustinian ascetics in Spain. The chief event on October 26, which took place in the Plaza del Rosario, was the unveiling of a commemorative tablet on the house in Valladolid in which Padre Luis de la Puente was born more than three centuries ago; the tablet is the gift of the Mayor and Corporation.

SLOVAKS HONOR PRIEST-POLITICIAN. The 60th birthday of Mgr. Hlinka, the Slovak priest who is chief of the Slovak Popular Party and the head of the autonomist movement, was made a great celebration this year as an acknowledgment of his work as father and head of the Catholic nationalist movement in Slovakia. His Holiness the Pope sent his benediction and congratulations to Father Hlinka. Delegations from every corner of Slovakia turned up in Ruzomberok, where Mgr. Hlinka celebrated his birthday by saying Mass in the open air before a congregation of four thousand persons. Flags of the different Catholic delegations, local bands, and the presence of the peasants in their picturesque national costume, all helped to make up a very striking picture. The press, even the Czecho-Slovak antiCatholic journals, all united to pay a just tribute to the idealism of Father Hlinka, and his work in keeping alive the national sentiment in Slovakia. The attitude of the Czech Catholics towards Mgr. Hlinka is one of profound gratitude. They regret the schism that exists between the two political parties, and look forward to the time when the two parties will be able to work in unison, as they did until fairly recently.