Annual Blessing of Fleet Sunday
"
The ANCHOR An Anchor oj the .soul, Sure and Flrm-~t. Paul
Fall River, Mass., Thursday, June 26, 1975 $5.ao'~~~E~: Vol. 19, No. 26 © 1975 The Anchor
u. S. Should Heed· Latin America Cry The annual collection for Latin America wiU be taken up at all Masses within the Diocese of Fall River on this coming weekend, June 28 and 29. Purpose of the collection is to help the hundreds of millions of Latin Americans to help themselves and to realize that their brothers and sisters in the Faith on this continent are aware of their plight. The prestigious Interreligious Committee of General Secretaries has issued a statement which captures the essence of the appeal. The Committee, comprised of Bishop James Rausch, Rabbi Henry Siegmon and Dr. R. H. Edwin Espy, asks North American Catholics to hear the cry of their Latin American brothers and sisters. "Americans are six per cent of the world's population and con·
sume forty per cent of the world's resources. Is this a tribute to our inventiveness and industry, or a condemnation of our greed? "However one answers that question, it is clear beyond doubt that, in order to be consistent with our national and religious heritage, we are absolutely obliged in justice to share the earth's resources more equitahly with all members of the human family." The committee gave the fol· lowing explanation of the ways in which justice is violated in our dealings with Latin America and other poor people throughout the world. "We violate the best of our heritage when we employ inordiTurn to Page Four
=~===~=======~~ Biloxi and Mobile extended Louisiana eastward along the Gulf Coast. For several decades French Jesuits evangelized the Indians, and French Capuchins served as the pastors of the settlers. At the end of the Seven Years' War (1763), when England asked her American colonies to pay new taxes for deThis is the second in a series of articles on the history 'fense expeditures, a much more radical demand was laid upon of Catholicism in America disthe almost 8,000 French subjects tributed by NC News Service in Louisiana. By treaty all of in cooperation with the NaLouisiana east of the Missistional Conference of Catholic sippi was yielded to England. Bishops' Committee for the All of Louisiana west of the MisBicentennial.) sissippi, with New Orleans atLouisiana in the 1770s was a tached, was ceded to Spain. French colony trying to become Some Louisianans thought of Spanish-or, rather, trying not declaring independence. Some to become Spanish, at least not united to send the first 'Spanish too Spanish. This Catholic neigh- governor .back home. Resistance, bor protected the backdoor of however, was f.utile. Indepenthe 13 Colonies, and aided the dence for so small a population Revolution in a striking measure was impossible. too little recognized in American' Without haste and without textbooks. eagerness, Spain accepted LouSettled by the French in 1699, isiana as a buffer to protect MexLouisiana included the Missis- ico and her borderlands against sippi, Missouri; Ohio and Red the multiplying English colonists River valleys. In addition to Illi- to the northeast. With a policy nois country villages, the towns of easy trade and with respect were Natchez, Natchitokes, for local population, the Spanish Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Turn to Page Five
BLESSING OF FLEET: Statue of St. Peter, the Great Fisherman, is transported through streets of Provincetown in fishing dory by townspepole during parade that precedes actual Blessing of Fleet ceremony. "0 Lord,. thy sea is so big and my ship so small ..." The andent prayer of mariners will be echoed this Sunday when Bishop Daniel A. Cronin travels to Provincetown to preside over the annual Blessing of the -Fleet ceremony. A Festival atmosphere will prevail in the Gapetip town as 36 gaily decorated fishing boats sail past a grandstand at the end of the municipal pier, to be reviewed by the Bishop, Rev. John Perry of St. Peter the Apostle Church in Provincetown, the
mayor and other dignitaries. Streets, storefronts, lamp posts and houses will be festooned with bunting, ribbons and lights. Sunday's blessing will be the 28th such ceremony. It was originated in 1948 by the late Msgr. John A. Silvia at the suggestion of a parishioner 'who felt that "inasmuch as so many fishing boats took off each day into the unknown, and since the boats were manned mostly by deep· faithed Catholic Portuguese fishing men, there should be a sim: pie ded'ication of boats and
crews to the glory of God." Thus the blessings began, to become an annual event eagerly looked forward to hy tQwnspeople and thousands of visitors. An amazing fact is that since the blessings began there has been no loss of life on any fishing boat. Cochairmen for the event, which begins tomorrow and ends Sunday evening, are Bernard Roderick Jr., and Anthony Jackett Jr. Both men are mates for their fathers on identical craft and both expect eventually Turn to Page Fourteen
Standing Room Only As Charismatics Met at St. Mary's Cathedral Old St: Mary's Cathedral had never seen anything like it. Last Sunday afternoon the mother church of the Fall River diocese almost literally shook with the singing and praises of well over 1,000 members of charismatic prayer groups as they participated in a stirring two-hour liturgy. "I was never at such a long Mass in my life," said a man to whom the charismatic movement was new. "But it seemed to take no time at aU," he added. Joy was the keynote of the eel· ebration, planned since January as a means of bringing the more than 20 individual prayer groups of the diocese together to give witness of the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives. The realization that this was indeed a special occasion began in the Cathedral parking, lot, where smiling ushers guided drivers, and bumper stickers with such messages as "Maranatha-What a Way to Go" and "Jesus Is the Way," were observable in profusion. At the Cathedral, more smiling ushers greeted each arrival with an enthusiastic embrace. Colors
of the traditional stained glass windows were picked up by dozens of banners attached to the church's grey pillars and carried ,by participants in the 'entrance procession of the Mass. Those participants were heard before they were seen, singing the rousing "Rejoice, Rejoice, Again I Say Rejoice." They led
priests of the diocese involved with the charismatic movement and at last Bishop Cronin, who presided at the Eocharist which had !is its prindpal celebrant Rev. Cornelius J. O'Neill, area coordinator for prayer groups. At the beginning of Mass Rev. William O'Brien of Ignatius Turn to Page Three
No. Attleboro 8th Grade And Attitude on Death' "Birds die and leaves fall from the trees. All of nature succumbs to a dying process and yet our culture ignores death. It is as if our entire world lived without any relationship to death." With such thoughts in mind and agreeing with famed death and. dying expert Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross that "If you start thinking about death when young, you will have far fewer problems later on when faced with death in the family," Rev. Robert J. Carter of St. Mary's Church, North Attleboro recently made a comparison of attitudes toward death
between experimental and control groups of eighth graders at St. Mary-Sacred Heart School, also in North Attleboro. Students in the experimental group participated in a 15-hour unit on "death education,'! including field trips to a nursing home, a cemetery, a funeral home and a church service, viewing filmstrips, participating in discussions and hearing several lectures. Additionally they wrote their own obituaries and epitaphs, listing what they thought they would like to be rememTurn to Page Ten