Aquinas Institute - Arete Yearbook (Rochester, NY)

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THE ARETE was Caedmon, a monk. Specimens of his work, crude, unfinished, barely intelligible to us of modern times, are still extant, and supply an object of much attention and study for scholars. A Catholic, his poems indicate his religion in every line, and form the basis for this refutation of opposing contentions. And a few centuries later, still in the Catholic world, the papal supremacy over old dominions, we find Chaucer, the earliest poet commonly known at the present, another Catholic, and one who propagated and revealed his faith in his every poem and tale, and who openly professed his belief as no man does today. In every era we have outstanding writers, even in the darkest days of Catholicism in the history of England. The Elizabethan age, the Restoration, the Reformation, all disclose famous men of our faith, those men who outshone all their contemporaries in genius and ability. Shakespere—there is a subject for controversy. “Not a Catholic,” you say. “Prove it,” is the reply, and the task, for it is that, immediately looms up enormous and impossible. The great dramatist had every opportunity to display preference for the Protestant faith. He had every inducement to evidence an antipathy and disrespect for Catholicism. Increased popularity would have acclaimed any sentiments malignant to Catholics and their Church or laudatory to Protestantism. Every logical movement favored his expression of non-Catholic beliefs, and yet the man contented himself with a perfunctory mention of the established Church, and a potent respect for our own. Shakespere, in his innermost convictions, was actuated by Catholic tendencies, and his superb works may be partially attributed, if the motivation be sought, to those very same tendencies, for the facile imagination, the unfailing inspiration, and the other qualities in which he was unusually talented. But nowr Milton claims our attention. The most talented, cultured, learned, poet of the English language he was, incontrovertably, but in more human and personal characteristics he was sadly deficient. As to versification, facility of diction, readiness and perfection of beauty and poetical thought in his verse, undoubtedly he occupies a premier place in our attention; in fact, his literary talent and its corresponding subordinate abilities in every type of literary production must not be sullied by my humble and inadequate pen. But consider Milton the man. An ardent and obdurate advocate of divorce, absolutely devoid of basic Christian ideals and human sympathies. Cold, shrewd, calculating, in personality, (continued on ixige 108) O God, Who hast commanded us to honor our parents, in Thy clemency have Mercy upon the soul of his mother, Margaret: pardon her sins and grant that her son may one day be re-united to her in a bright and joyful eternity. The faculty join the alumni and undergraduates in extending to our Bishop sincere sympathy in the loss of his mother. twenty

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THE ARETE Catfjoltc JUcttottp tit literature T has long been the accepted custom of numerous men of letters, perverted and biased in their religious persuasions, to allude lightly and slightingly to the Catholic Church and her standpoint on education, her position in literature, the products and accomplishments of her children. There is noticeable to-day a marked trend to more sensible and appreciative estimation of the Church in this respect, but still there are those who, either bigoted or misinformed, perjudiced or ignorant, evidence a complete misapprehension of this matter, and ascribe to the Catholic Church effects upon its members and their lives, their thoughts, their ability or particular leaning in profession or vocation, which to us are not only suprising and dumbfounding but also highly ridiculous and extremely amusing. It is frequently asserted that our religion has a most detrimental and retarding effect on the output of Catholic authors. That their works, because of narrow-minded thought and intolerant ideas, are devoid of originality, of superior qualities, of all elements unique and unconventional in structure and content. In brief, that, because of the faith of the writer, and his consequent standards of morals, thought, and persons, a work of this class is stilted in a fashion, reserved, constrained, that the author is not enthusiastic and sincere, but that there is invariably and inevitably missing the ultimate essential of true convictions and rigid contentions which should be the very fundamental element upon which any form of real literature should be based. It is not difficult to deny these assertions, for every Catholic realizes the true position, aesthetically, of our Church, and we, to a great extent, can cite refuting arguments and convincing proofs, but nevertheless by far the most effective denial possible is the mention of examples in literature to prove the fallacy of the contentions which I have enumerated. For centuries, from the very primal origin of Christianity, Catholic books and authors have occupied an eminent position in the eyes of critics and readers. In every field, the drama, fiction, science, the essay, have writers of our faith been prominent, and numerous books of Catholic authors, written in different ages for over nineteen hundred years are regarded as the ideal standards of literature of their class, and are quoted to us as embodiments of desirable and requisite elements, of fluent and facile diction, of beautiful and well-constructed style in every field of literary endeavor. But to us the criticisms and comments of Englishmen and Americans are most familiar, and, bearing that in mind as an important consideration, I shall attempt to concisely summarize, from the Catholic prospective, the history of English literature since its origin, and to prove or rather delineate the potent influence that the Church has been on this subject. Not a restraint or a detriment to genius, but a most stimulating, beneficial, and inspiring influence on both authors and their output, a truly helpful and lofty incentive to great heights of accomplishment and merit. Let us begin at the crudest and earliest form of English literature, approximately in the eighth century, when our language was in its most undeveloped and pristine stage and was used by the most ignorant and illiterate peasants and woodsmen. Probably the first writer of English nineteen

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COMMERCIAL CLASS 1 CASCHETTA,JOSEPH “Joe” 19 Riley Place Holy Apostles’ School Joe is the senior member of the class. He fulfils that capacity by giving to his classmates the best of example. Were all like Joe there would be but little trouble in the world. Joe is quiet, thoughtful and studious and the best liked fellow in the class. He is a lover of his fellow students and takes a keen interest in their successes or failures. His pleasing personality is sure to bring him success. Good-luck, Joe. CROWLEY, JOHN C. “Cornelius” 82 Cypress Street Immaculate Conception School John from his youth until he entered the Aquinas Institute was educated at Immaculate Conception. John has speed and accuracy in shorthand as well as on the typewriter but he becomes tired of school every so often and comes trooping in about five minutes late. When John grows up he will be one of the prominent men of his parish. John likes baseball as well as other sports but does not make a practice of them and generally thinks of his school work. We wish him success and happiness. DUPLACK. DANIEL E. “Danny” 28 Rauber Street St. Michael’s School A young, lively, amiable, intelligent, religious, as well as industrious, lad is Danny Duplack. He is always down to business or “down to brass tacks.” As his English is Al, Washington Irving will have a competitor whom he cannot surpass. Danny is a proof that it is not the genius but the hard worker who overcomes opposition and gains success. We are sure that in future years he will be one of the outstanding personages in the business world. twenty-one