Charity Ball" Jan. 8
For Needy Children
An Al1r.hor of the Soul. Sure rmdF'irm-ST.
Fall River, Mass. Vol. 1, No. 36
PAUL
Thursday, Dec. 12, 1951
Se.ond (;Ia•• Mail Privilell'es Authorized at ~'all River, Ma••.
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The 1958 Bishop's Charity Ball .to be held on Wednesday, Jan. 8, in Lincoln Park's MillionDQllar Ballroom will be under the auspices of the Diocesan Council of Catholic Women and the ~ociety of St. Vincent de Paul. Mrs. Mary Almond of New Bedford and H. Frank Reilly of Fall Rivet, presidents of the~r repectivegroups, are co-chairmen of the affair which is 'held annually for the benefit of the under .privileged children of the Diocese and the St. Vincent de Paul Health Camp. The Charity Ball will feature one of the rare appearances of Lester Lanin and his orchestra whose playing engagements read like a Who's Who of America listing. This past year Lanin played at the Tiffany Ball ~n Newport which was given nationwide publicity through a picture story in Life Magazine. His orchestra was also retained to play for the Monte Carlo Ball held in honor of Prince Rainier and Princess Grace (Kelly). Turn to Page Four
Crash Program Could Endanger American Ideals WASHINGTON (NC) Congress will be back at work after the. start of the new year and once again ed FIFTY YEARS AS PASTOR: Rt. Rev. Msgr.AntoniQ P. Vieira gives thanks for the portrait of himself presented 1;0 hIm' at Lincoln Park Sunday evening at a testimonial banquet celebrating his Golden Jubilee as pastor of Our Lady of Moun't Carmel Church, New Bedford. To his left are the Most Reverend Bishop and Antone B. Santos, general iay chairman of the affair.
Thousands of' Visitors See Briliiant'LaSalette Shrine Once again all the pageantry of Christmas is. open to the thousands of visitors who annually wend their way to the Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette at Attleboro in eager anticipation to behold this wonderful panorama dedicated to the Prince of Peace. Christmas, that thousands of visFor the fifth year the itors may bow down in humble 30,000 multi-colored bulbs . adoration at the Crib of their set in various designs are illuminated to. symbolize the Light of the World who came to illuminate the darkness of man's world and to point out the true path along which he is to' walk. The purpose of the Christmas lights at the La Salette SN-ine is to commemorate the Birthday of .Jesus Christ, that great event which marked the beginning of a new era in the history of man, an era of freedom, of love and of peace. Dedicated to this ideal, the La Salette Fathers and Brothers at the Shrine in Attleboro each year expend their time and ef fort to put on this beautiful Christmas display so that the true meaning of Christmas may be brought home to all, that Christ may be put back into
ucation is' a major issue to be faced.' . . This time, however; there will 'be a new twist. There will be not only' the qu-estion of Federal aid to education, and what form it should take. ,There will also be the question of what Amer ican education itself should be like in ·the years just ahead. The international competiti0!l in the launching of ~arth satel lites and missiles has brought a demand in this country for'more science courses in our curricula. As a general proposition <this cail Turn to Page Five
Renew Decency.
Pledge Sunday
The following Legion of De cency Pledge will be renewed 'by _ Catholics of the Diocese on S~n God and learn therefr.oni ~he day: IN THE NAME OF THE message of pe?ce and lov.e ~hlch FATHER AND OF THE SpN ,He came to give us.. ThiS IS the AND OF THEHOLY GHOST. Turn to Page EIghteen AMEN.' . I condemn indecent and im moral motion pictures, and those which glorify c'rime or criminals. I promise to do all that I can to strengthen public opinion CHICAGO (NC)-In dis against the production' of. inde tributing ~ts list: of publica and immoral films, and to . tions deemed objectionable cent unite with all who protest for youth, the National Of against them. fice for Decent Literature is I acknowledge my obligation . endeavoring to arouse public to form a right conscience about opinion against printed smut, pictures that are dangerous to NOD L's executive secretary my moral life. As a member of said. the Legion of Decency, I pledge Msgr. Thomas J. Fitzgerald in myself to remain away from a statement released at the of them. I promise, further to stay fice's headquarters here said that away altogether from piac~s of the organization sponsored by amusement which show them.as Turn to Page Eleven a. matter of policy.
Seek to Protect Sacred R;ghts
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MRS. MARY ALMOND'
. H. FRANK REILLY
Pope's Address Sane Guide ,On Artificial Respiration The autho1' of the following article is a p1'ofesso1' of 1Itoml theology in the School of Sam'ed Theology at the Catholic Univel'sity of A?lter ica. He 1'eti1'ed 1'ece1ttly as dean of that school and now, in addit·io1t t. h·is teaching d:uties, is dean for 1'eligious co1ltmu.nities at the unive1'sity.
By ~ev. Francis i. Connell, C.SS.R. His Holiness. Pqpe Pius XII has provided a sane and moderate guide for those faced with 'an increasingly com mon, problem-,-the use of artificial means to prolong the life of a person who is' surely dying. The Pontiff's recent state- would allo~ ~. person s~ffering ment on reanimation to the from a hopeless ailment to. be put· International Congress' of to death by some direct means .. .. and the theory that every posAnesthetIst~ Is ..a stnkl!1 g sible means must be used to keep ~xample of hiS abI1l~y and wIllmgness to cope With modern scien~ific problems. and to give a defimte response m accordance wit~ .tradition~l principles of. ChrIstian te.achl~g.. . .The most m~erestmg portIo~ of hiS addre.ss IS. the declaration tha~ one IS oblIged to use onI! o.rdm!lry means to prolong hiS lIfe. I He said that even when life could be preserved a li~tl~ longer b~ s~ch mea~s as artifiCIal res~)lratlOn, one IS not bound to use ~t, but may allow nature to run ItS course and death to ensue. This· is the teaching of the Catholic Church as now proclaimed by the Vicar of Christ. It is a middle course between the pagan theory of euthanasia that
a person alive, even when death would be a relief. This latter theory is actually unchristian for it exaggerates the importance of earthly life. ChristiBns should always re member that the principal pur pose of life on earth is to prepare for eternity. When one has used all ordinary means to preserve his health and life and has made use of the sacraments established by Jesus Christ to insure eternal salvation, there is no reason why he may not abstain from further efforts to lengthen his term of life on earth and calmly accept death with the glad hope of life eternal. The Sovereign Pontiff was answering three questions pro ;I'urn to Page Twent,.
Franciscan Sisters Labor of Love
How Holy Communion Hosts Are Made
By Pat.ricia McGowan You receive Holy Com !nunion once a month,. once a week, possibly daily? You know that what you receive is the Real Presence of Our . Lord, !.mder the appearance of bread. But do you ever wonder about the process by which the thin wafer which the priest places on your tongue is pre pared for its wondrous role? It is fitting and usually the ease that communities of Sisters are entrusted with the task of preparing the bread that is to become Christ. One such com munity· is that of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary at St. An thony's(:onvent, 621 Second Street, Fall River. In a tiny room on the third 800r Qf the 1l4-~ear old building, Mother
Mary Vincent d'Aquila has for 18 years lovingly performed the task of supplying hosts to churches and institutions of the Fall River area. In that time she estimates she has baked some nine million. hosts and nearly half a million large hosts of the sort consumed by the priest at Mass and used for Benediction and Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. "To think that I have contri buted to half a million Masses makes me very happy," says Mother Mary Vincent in her lilting French accent. "I work at making hosts for two days 'a week, about seven hours each day," she continued. ~'Of course, we are not the only suppliers in the dioc~se, but at varying times we provide hosts to from 29' to as many as 40 churches and'insti tutions. one of our largest 'cua-
tomers' being St. Mary's Cathe dral." The Franciscan Missionaries of Mary follow an ancient tradi- . tion in supplying altar. breads. St. Francis himself, Mother Mary Vincent told us, .baked hosts for Mass, using the primitive equip ment of his time, two heavy pieces of iron heated nearly red hot, then pressed together like a present-day waffle iron, with the thin dough for the hosts be tween them. Now, of course, the method of baking hosts has been streamlined, but the spirit of St. Francis, is still strong in the little convent. on Second Street, and Mother tends her electric baker with all the devo tion of her illustrious predeces
sor. Proudly. she showed us her immaCUlate equipm.ent, starting Turn. to Page Ten
THANKS FOR LIBERATION FROM DACHAU: This painting of Our Lady of Czestochowa· was given to West Point Military Academy by Edward Chmurzynski in appre ciation for 'the U. S. Army's liberating him in 1945 during a death march to Dachau concentration camp. It will hang in Most Holy Trinity Chapel.