Saint Ursula Academy - Scroll Yearbook (Toledo, OH)

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If X ,fp f fCk X X ' f ff a The Christmas Star The other stars when they went out every night, Made rne stay horne, because I was too bright, .flnd when theyld play games on the fola- lowlng day, Tlzeyld say I was too big and just got in the way. 1 For thousands of years I sat alone on a shelf, Just feeling sorry for rny big, clumsy self, Then one day when the others had gone off on a spree, A band of angels earne looking for me. Above an old stable they placed rne to adorn The place where the Son of God had been born, And all the little stars rushed from afar To honor rne, the Christmas Star. -PATRICIA CARSTENSEN '45 f

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Double Trouble T HAD been a hard day of constant driving for miles and miles along the smooth highway that skirted Lake lvlichigan, and Bill Hardy wond- ered wby he had allowed himself to be talked into this trip by his good friend, Father Tom. The priest had said that it was a must trip for himself and he wanted company. And now Bill and Father Tom found themselves, of all places, in the guest roo1r1 of a convent. The occasion was a f'Clothing on the morrow. Father Tom was holding forth on vocations. Now Bill, this girl who is going to receive the veil of a sister in religion tomorrow has found her voca- tion. That simply means that she is ac- cepting the invitation from the Lord to serve Him as a religious. That is what we mean by a vocation. She might just as well have been called to the married state. She is no different from any other girl of her age. She likes to dance, and go to movies, and to do the things that girls like to do, but she is giving some of these up in order to serve fiod better. llflass over early next morning and Father Toni deep in his prayers, Bill eyed the neighboring lake and decided he would have time for a swim before the ceremony. As he was driving the car out of the enclosure to negotiate the few blocks to the lake, he noted a second car, a big one, just getting into motion. Then a voice, the owner of which he could not see, said: Now Sister! You know Mother' won't like your going swimming before the ceremony, and you simply must be theref' And a voice just as pleasant cooed: 'fYes Sister, but what lklother doesn't know won't hurt herf' You ought to know, 'Sister' dearf' and the big car swept on. Bill saw that the driver of the car was a very -attractive young lady who did justice to the Jantzen she was wear- -JANET SHEPERD '45 ing. liill's mind was full of misgivings. He knew that lN'lother was the title of the religious superior. The warning voice had sounded tearful, if not terri- fied. The warned was Hippant. On the diving raft Bill tried to be friendly. Conversation was kept in a very broad and safe channel. He was interested. More he was excited to think that this lovely young creature should be entering a sisterhoodg and, most of all, perplexed that she should be taking this French-leave for a l-ast swim before her induction. An hour later Bill watched the cere- mony from a pew in the rear. For him it was long and tedious. The sermon was given by a dignitary who was offer- ing a solution for the problems of the world the girls were leaving. The sisters-to-be were going through their parts in seared if sacred tones. 'liben Bill saw his swimming partner of the morning, kneeling before the ina vesting prelate. ln her robes she was more beautiful than ever. Regret swept over him, This was too much. He got out and had a smoke. Si? Cl? ill' Adieus were being made. Bill was waiting for Father Tom to get into the car, when quite by accident-if it were an accident-the big car of the morning hooked his bumper. Saying something to himself that sounded like a prayer, and wasn't, Bill strained to unhook the bumpers. He was amazed for the last time that day to see that the driver of the car with the bumper hooked was his swimming partner of the morning. Entirely unsolicited she piped up: Ulf it will clear up anything for you, that was my twin you so stared at while she was taking the veil. This kindly lady who is holding hands with my father in the back seat, and who didn't catch me this morning, is my Mother. Father Tom rode home with the par- ents of the twins, and in the priest's coupe rode Bill and Sister Jantzen. 6 THE SCROLL

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Within T hose Prison Walls -SALLY OTCONNELL '45 More often than f W I '1 would be at liber- not, the' instant we ' --l-f 'CY to Spelld .his hear the word Vffgif,-V time as he mlg t ' ' - i-L wish free from prison , our. im 'Y , h . agination carries us l financial worries. to a massive, bar- .La . E -gli .These men of ren-looking struc- ' f flu .Las L-E' 2 brilliant minds and ture, cut off from all society by a formidable wall of stone pillars and iron bars. Within the walls of this gloomy den of iniquity we are confronted with every conceivable form of humanity wallowing in the mire of despair, VVhile this idea is not entirely an illusion, for institutions of such a dank and dismal nature did exist in England and elsewhere as late as the twentieth century, there really was another kind of prison-that with which we are con- cerned in this article. lt was a sort of comfortable and spacious stopping-off place for courtiers and men in the com- paratively high places between court functions or hazardous scavenger hunts of the Sea Dog variety during the Tudor dynasty, when Henry VIII and Elizabeth held the sceptre in England. This tradition of keeping men guessing as to their fate continued for centuries in English diplomacy when mercy and justice were not above the sceptred sway. Q Many of the most highly educated and cultured nobles of the day were often made political prisoners. When the monarch of the time would tire of some nobleman's presence around the court, he would dispatch a guard to prevent the unfortunate disfavored one from leaving the bounds of his home. Or, on the other hand, the king might confiscate an estate in a newly con- quered distant province and send the man there for safe keeping. But, if the king were too busy to render any per- sonal attention to the case, the offender would be moved, often with his servants, to some secluded apartments, where he classical educations were not wastrels, but made use of their opportunities in this enforced idleness to compose some of the immortal master- pieces which even now serve as inspira- tion to the learned of our modern era. To those men of impetuous and ad- venturous natures, this life of compara- tive ease was intense cruelty. Probably many oi them would never have dreamed ol' a literary career had not this opportunity been forced upon them. Many a genius would undoubtedly have pursued a daring existence of blood and thunder to die a hero, renowned for his valor and courage. ln this respect we are indebted to the circumstances which gave birth to these outstanding literary contributions, Sir Thomas lN'lalory's Jllorirf 11' Arthur was the source of inspiration to such writers as Tennyson, Spenser, Nlil- ton, Arnold, iyiorris, and Swinburne. Rosetti, Watts, and Burne recorded some of its most stirring scenes on their canvasesg and hints of it are detected in the lyric dramas of Wagiier. Among the earliest of English prose, Marte d' Arthur relates the adventures of King Arthur, the prototype of the ideal English King Alfred, and his Round Table. The triumph of Arthur's virtues over the temporal vices is pre- dominant. In the war of the Roses, hlalory fought with the defeated Lancasters at the siege of Rouen in 1418 and may have been a member of Parliament in 1444 and 1445. So that in 1468 when the Yorks, in the person of Edward IV, came into power, Malory's name was so well known as an enemy to the party 8 THE SCROLL