St. Viator College Newspaper, 1908-02

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THE VIATORIAN Facet Spera :VOLUME 25

FEBRUARY 1908

NUMBER 5

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A. Pilon. · HATEVER the Catholic Ch urch may mean to us, whatever it may typify and symboli ze, whatever contrary notions it may convey to you and to me, one thing it impresses upon u s all· th e power, strength and uni ty of its organ ization. Made out of the most disco,r dant elei11ents , with its roots planted far back in the distant past, it has grown or1 and on, sendin g fort,h n ew shoots and new branches, weathering' th e stor.ms of p ersecution and heresy, until today in its -ramifications it embraces · the whole known world and stands unique in histo ry. vVhatever may be the secret of its Ol~ga ni zation, w hatever its object, e111d or purpose, it is an orga11ization the lik·e of which the world has never seen. In it we find th e most perfect blending of sub ordinate and co-ordinat e, the clearest differentiation of governed and governing, the most admirabl e expos ition of dogni.a an cl' mor.al, the most exacting- unifo rmity ii1 discipline and practi ce. - Itself a gigantic society, it embraces in its folds societies · as vas t a s any of ·our far-famed fraternal or ben!evolent organ ization~, societies whose aggr-egate m emb ership is s uffici ent to people the state of New York and to treble th e popu lati on of many of th e sma ll ~ r countr: es of Europeo And thes·e s ubsidiary societies, these soci eties w ithin a soc iety , exi. t both among the clergy and the lciity, haY ing aims as wide ly different as the rescu e of the benighted heath en in India and archiological resear ch work tending to throw additional light on the scriptures. It is of sorne of these societi es th at I w ish to speak, o r rather of a ce rta in class of these known among us as the contemplative orders. These have existed from the earEest ag·es of the Church and include in their numbers both men and wom,en. Sometimes we find the mle mbers of these organizations leading a community life as the mrJnks' with whom we are more f;uniliar and soni.etimes we find them livinZ" isolated and apart from their fellow-beings as the hermits and · solitaries of th e 'desert, but always they live a life· of the strictest asceticism and always they relnOve themselves from


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St. Viator College Newspaper, 1908-02 by Viatorians - Issuu