St. Viator College Newspaper, 1908-01

Page 1

THE .VIATORIAN I ,

Fac et Spera

VOLUME 25

~ WHER-E

JANUARY 1908

,

I

NUMBER 4

MAN RISES AND FALLS

D. J. M'cAuliffe 'og. AN. is th e nobl est work of God. Now h ere up on the earth s hall we find a specim,en of the Cr eator 's handi work fairer and mor'e enrapturing to the sight, for h e is endowed w ith mighty faculti es, a sp iritual excellence, a n d a p erfection greater than c'a n b e found in th e whole mat erial universe. 'I 'o him th e material world, with its variety of liv in g beings, is subserv ient and whenever brute creation y ields to his demands and needs, it proclaims him lord.__ vV er e man full y ·c onscious of th e dignity h e possesses, of the g rand eur encompassed within the precincts of his mortality, he would stri ve t o liYe 111 keeping with his honor, t o garnish what h e has of sp lend or , to nourish what is lastin g; but sad t o say, he is often forgetful of these and so far so as to give himself t o practices that tar n is h his h onor, endanger his exce llence, and that leave him n o distinctive mark to sep arat e hin1. from the rest of brute cr eation. In no practice does he g uard m ore carefull y th e excell encies of soul and body th a n in that of t emp erance, and in n on e does he so divest hirnself of all his grandeur than in its opposite, imtemperance. The vi r t u e of t emp eran ce consists in the exercise, w hich may become a fi xe d habit, of m oderatin g a·nd r estraining the appetite. No virtue is m or e difficult t o acquire; non e m or e essential for that . hig her attainm ent of man; none contribut es m or e t o preserve, s trength en, purify and illumine human life. This golden m ean of moderation in what pertains to the sensible app etit e ca naot be kept perfectly w·i thout constant checks upon th e cravings of the passions- . that is, without · som etim es practicing mortification . b y <ler~ying ourselves allowable pleas ures. Concupiscence is lik e a fi ery s t eed, which must be early broken in and controll ed ever afterwards w ith a . firm hand . Especially is thi s virtu e :)f temp ~r ane e c0mmeRdable and nec·e ssary to us young men vvho at ·c n0w in ~he 1110rn of manhood, a time when the. vista oJ th·2 fubtre, with ;1.11 its pc-ssibiliti~s of fame or disgrace, looms up bdtxe us; a time when


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St. Viator College Newspaper, 1908-01 by Viatorians - Issuu