Cathedral College of the Immaculate Conception - Annual Yearbook (Brooklyn, NY)

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0'CATHEDRAL'COLLEG SECOND YEAR - SECTION ONE W. , H SECOND YEAR - SECTION TWO 70

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A N N U A L l 9 3 6 0 ' ence of Mrs. Alice Meynell. At the home of this authoress met all the literary lights of England. Here they discussed the million and one things that occupy the mind of budding poets and playwrights. lt was she who officially started the Catholic movement in literature as a movement. She made all the Cath- olics who frequented her house agree always to write with the definite pur- pose in view of advancing Catholic principles by their writings. Finally it was she who discovered the genius of Francis Thompson, the greatest Catholic lyric poet in the English language. He has been ranked by some critics sec- ond only to Keats and Shelley, and all agree that he is the greatest English poet produced since their time. The World War marks the beginning of the third and greatest period in Catholic literature. We have already declared that the war marked a turn from the principles of the post-Victorian era to the principles of either Cathol- icism or Communism. lt is because of this turn to Catholicism in search for peace and security that the interest in Catholic literature has greatly in- creased. The greatest figure in this third phase of the Catholic literary revival is the journalist, G. K. Chesterton. This man, journalist, pamphleteer, an author, a poet, has been outspoken against the principles of the post-Victorian era that lead us to the war. He shouts, he rants, he raves, he pleads cajolingly, he philosophizes in paradoxes, on all fronts, in every manner he leads the Catholic attack against the twin evils of the day-Atheism and Communism. Close behind Chesterton comes his friend and adviser, Hilaire Belloc. As Chesterton leads the attack, so Belloc directs it. l-le and his associates are bit by bit destroying the prejudice against Catholicism. He has shown the people of the present day their heritage from their Catholic past and urges them to embrace it. The Catholic spirit pervades all forms of literature. ln poetry the music of Alfred Noyes charms us by its simplicity, and the delightful scenes he pic- tures are seen on the streets of London. He and his friends are taking up the work of Francis Thompson. More and more the worthwhile novels are acquiring a Catholic tone. In the field of biography, the greatest demand at the present time is for lives of the saints. Catholic scientists, for the most part priests in universities, are coming to the fore. Finally, in the always turbulent fie'ld of Apologetics, there has been amazing activity. The bookshelves are being filled and emptied of recent volumes replying to the attacks of some bigoted non-believer or ignorant atheist. As to the effects of this Catholic revival we can say very little. We are yet in the midst of it. Undoubtedly one of the first results has been to encour- age more Catholics to write. lt has given Catholics courage to state their views in print . It has led non-Catholics to inquire about the Church and has been responsible for many conversions. lt has dispelled the idea that all Catholics are ignorant and uneducated. These are all outward evidences of the revival. But who will enumerate the hidden results? Who will count the number of men and women who have drawn strength, comfort and joy in an hour of trial or moment of misery from some Catholic book that offered enlight- enment, understanding and truth? SYLVESTER G. BENACK, '35 69

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A N N U A L l 9 3 6 0 0 Second Year - Section Une E never fully realized the flight of time until last September when we found ourselves in Second year. Nothing can be accomplished without leaders, therefore, we elected lohn Gallagher, president, and Gerard Duffy, secretary. Since we were not strangers to one another, the class soon became well acquainted once more. lt is our ambition to visit Bunker Hill, our pet historical spot. We like all countries ruled by a King because he is our favorite monarch. But we are not all as silly as we seem. There are a few geniuses among us-Gin- nane, McDonnell, Fogarty, and McGuiness. This quartet is in constant de- mand, especially when a difficult problem in Geometry arises or when we do not understand Caesars English. Then again, out of our number came one who may be termed a pioneer His name is Warren Koch. He made a suggestion one day that a Stamp Club he established and it was taken up and put into effect. Koch was elected its first president. Another thing of which our class is proud is that we have players on all the school teams. Comerford represented us on the Prep, while Bibler, Bergin, Brogan, and Gallagher were stars on the I. V. Ruddy was among Father McLees' Midgets. Then, too, our class team was among the top ranking ones. Now that we have finished this brief picture of our class, we must offer our thanks to our professors. So, until next year, 2B-l bids you farewell. ROBERT I. ODONNELL, '4U. Second Year - Section Two XTRAl Farmer-No Labor Party Abolishedl Yes, kind reader, that's how our school year opened. The Farmer-No Labor Party which favored the fusion of the offices of vice-president and secretary was dissolved by the Pre- fect of Discipline. The charge against them was this: 'Whereas the officers of class 2B-2, Messrs. Counihan and Murphy, are commuting hicks from the sticks and have neglected to dismiss classes to catch the 3:05. They are hereby relieved from official duties. Did this mean that in the future all commuters were disqualified from holding class offices? Immediately, a riot arose among the rest of the hicks, but it was soon quelled by the majority party, the city slickersf' McHugh, Campbell, and Roland were finally elected. Our athletic endeavors were crowned with great success. Our class basketball team, composed of Ryan, Pryor, Roland, Lawrie, Watson, Reehl, Dilgen, Sullivan, Blake, Cabisino, and Tansi, simply couldn't resist laying aside those seniority rules and privileges to win the championship in the inter-class basketball tournament. On the final deciding game with fourth year they showed outstanding courage even though all the odds were against them. Not only have we been prominent in athletic achievements but we have excelled also in classroom feats. No, we're not boasting about our high LQ. 1 ROBERT V. BOUBEAU, '4O. 71