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

Page 78 text:

THE CONFBATERNITY OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE-SENIOR DIVISION ,f . , . .V N' -lgglfr ,, . . ,-- -... A I ' 7 l THE CONFRATERNITY OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE-JUNIOR DIVISION CATHEDRAL COLLEGE ANNUAL . ...-,,.,l

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THE SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATICN OF THE FAITH ll5'lm giver bizzzrel wilb almr, feecli' three, Hf1ll.I'6lf, bit bllllglfffllg neighbor, and Me. FU ERE, in this field a Chinese farmer is working. See the skin of his frail body. cracked and dried from the burning sun, and his hands Q f 57 blistered from the primitive plow. Soon he is going to die. All his ,M ff life he has known but two things, poverty and disease. Now, suppose you had the power of giving to this Chinese, any one thing in the world, What would you give him? Water? Food? Would you not give him the greatest gift in the world .... the gift of the Faith? Think what it would mean to him. He would find out that there is a reason for his exf istence. He would know, and learn about the God who suffered and died for him. Yes, it would be a fine thing if you had the power to do this. And yet, that is exactly what you have been doing, all year. That is what your propagation money is doing, and will continue to do. You have been helping others, you have been saving souls, you have been propagating the Faith. Sometimes you gave your nickel or dime to the Propagation, willingly. Sometimes it would have afforded you the greatest pleasure to throttle the collector. But you gave! We may then feel justly proud, for Cathedral has always given very generous amounts to the Propagation Society, despite her small enrollment. But this too, is as it should be, for certainly in a Minor Seminary, we should expect to find a great zeal for the salvation of souls. While we are at the business of praising, let us remember the work done by Father Mclsees and his staff of collectors. Year after year, Father has given generously of his time and labor so that the work of the Society may be fur- thered. l-le has shown great zeal for this work in many ways. He gives away religious articles as prizes, for those who give a certain amount of money, each week he totals up the collections and puts the standings of the classes on his small bulletin board. A word must be said about the collectors. Perhaps some of you have said some words about them already, but they don't count. Seriously, though, it is no easy task to put a notebook under a nose which is inhaling the fragrance of frankfurters, and demand a nickel from its owner. He must persuade, cajole, kid, and do everything short of murder, at times, in order to reach his weekly quota. There is another part of the Propagation Society, which deserves much credit,-the remailing department. Each week it sends out prayer books, magazines, and rosaries, to all parts of the world, in order to bring the gifts of prayer and spiritual guidance, to the struggling missions. This then is what your nickels have been doing, and you may well feel proud of the part you have played in propagating the Faith, and in fulfilling the desires of Our Divine Lord. Remember, too, that such actions will not be unrewarded, for Christ is the most appreciative of masters. RICHARD F. LANE, '42 Pager' saw CATHEDRAL COLLEGE ANNUAL

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CONFRATERNITY OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE 'Ri 4 M NUMBER of years ago, the Achille Ratti Society was formed at Cathedral, Its purpose was to allow the students to fulfill Christ's fkfklgb admonition: Going therefore, teach ye all nations . . . Those Llc, whom it attempted to reach were the unfortunate children of the diocese who were deprived of a parochial school, who were being brought up without a knowledge of God. Cathedral students went out once or twice a week to the various parishes, situated in less favored sections of the borough, and there aided the priests and sisters in giving these unfortunate children the fundamentals of their faith. ti L if 'A i n Y ln 1937, as a part of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, the work was undertaken on an even larger scale, under the direction of Father Pfundstein. ln l94l, Father Kowalski, succeeded to this position, and during his recent ill- ness, has been represented by Father Kelly. At present the entire College and the members of Fourth Year participate in this work and a course in teaching methods has been added to the curricula of these classes. The parishes aided are included in the area stretching from Richmond l-fill, to the Navy Yard District of Brooklyn. It is appalling to think of these little children being brought up away from God, outside of all religious training. They are growing up in the midst of a war-torn world, a world indifferent to religion, a world full of all sorts of isms , a world whose only hope is to return to God and the true religion. And how are these children to learn of God and of His religion? Certainly not from their parents, for most often it is the neglect of religious duties on the part of the parents that accounts for the lack of religious training in the child. The Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. therefore, is endeavoring to place in the hearts of these unfortunate little ones a foundation of faith in God, to instill a love for Him in them, and at least, attempt to teach them the funda- mentals of their religion. At times this work seems useless, and the task hope- less. These children, brought up in an atmosphere inconducive to their spiritual development, often fail to react as we would have them. But we must remember that in most cases the results cannot be seen at once. The only thing that can be done is to pray that the seed of faith that we have planted in them shall flourish under our guidance. This is a work which is dear to the heart of every Cathedralite. Aside from the fact that it can be an abundant source of graces for the student, it is the means of placing on the road to salvation many who would otherwise be lost, and a chance to labor in the vineyard of the Lord. It is, therefore, a work especially appropriate for Cathedral students, since it provides a training which will later be useful in their chosen life. ADOLPH C. KLEIN, '43 CATI-IEDRAL COLLEGE ANNUAL