Boys Central High School - Maroon Yearbook (Butte, MT)

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REV. BROTHER PATRICK A. GLEESON Provincial

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ZZ-Kimi az., HIS EXCELLENCY MOST REV. IOSEPH M. GILMORE Bishop of Helena

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Christian Brothers 150th Anniversary i802 - 1952 7 WAS A HOT summer's afternoon as Mr. Edmund Rice wended his way through the streets of Waterford from the docks to his office. As he moved along the congested streets his mind was pre- occupied with thoughts of the huge cargo he had just seen unloaded from an incom- ing ship. Such thoughts as, What price would it bring? and What customers would it interest? raced through his heat- oppressed mind. Not once but several times was he nearly knocked off his feet by crowds of rough, uncouth boys playing their childish games in the streets. Soon, though, he arrived at the door of his office, and began the weary climb to his small suite on the second floor. Day by day the flight of stairs seemed to get longer and longer, for Mr. Rice was close to forty years of age. After a brief pause at the top of the stairs, Mr. Rice entered his office, sat down at his desk and began going through his accounts. Try as he would, he just couldn't seem to concentrate on the work in front of him. His mind was far from the work of the import-export business. That ever- present thought kept pounding in his mind - What doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his soul? Truly, Mr. Rice had gained just about the whole world. He had many friends in high placesg he was remarkable for his benevolence, prudence, and integrityg . he was well acquainted with the poverty ' and sufferings of his less fortunate brethern. But what could he, a man of thirty-eight years of age, do to become more perfect? Should he follow his first impulse and hide himself away in an Augustinian monastery in Italy as he had thought of so often? For BR- some reason or other, this did not seem to strike him as being his vocation. Edmund Rice slowly closed his account book, dropped to his knees beside his desk and breathed a fervent prayer to the Holy Ghost for guidance. lt was a prayer of a man who wanted to do Cod's will, yet could not be sure of the Divine Will. After spending several minutes in intimate contact with his Divine Lord, Edmund Rice again seated himself before his desk and removed from one of the drawers his copy of the Bible. He opened it at randon, and there staring him in the face were the words of lsaias, They that instruct others unto justice shall shine as stars for all enternityf' What could this mean? Was the Holy Ghost actually inspiring him - showing him what was to be his Divine lVlaster's will for him? Edmund Rice rose from his chair, walked to the window, and saw below him those same uncouth, unlettered boys running helter and skelter in the streets below. Then he realized the hidden meaning of the scriptural text and he read, and decided then and there to devote his life to the educa- tion of the poor boys of Ireland. . On the temporary cessation of hostilities between France and England in the autumn of l80l Father john Rice, Edmund's brother, left the continent and arrived in Waterford in the first week in October.