OLeary High School - Envoy Yearbook (Edmonton, Alberta Canada)

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DEDICATION Pope jU» XXIil The whole world, catholic and non-catholic alike, mourned the death of our late, beloved Pope John XXIII in June 1963. The words of our Lord, I think thoughts of peace and not of affliction. ... were particularly applicable to this humble apostle of Christ. But Pope John not only taught the doctrine of Christ, he lived it. The goodness, the charity, the love and understanding of Christ again brought life to troubled and confused souls. Pope John ' s efforts to promote world peace during his short pontifcate, were crowned by his encyclical Pacem in Terris . This great document, addressed to all the people of the world, was acclaimed in the United Nation Assembly and applauded even by Soviet Premier Khrushchev. Pope John XXIII is dead, but he will always be remembered as a great and holy man. It is with mingled feeling of love, respect and gratitude that we dedicate this book to him.

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o Behold a great priest who in his days pleased God. --Book of Wisdom Yes, Archbishop O ' Leary was truly a great priest whose light was not hidden under a bush. In the indefatigable performance of his duty, as he saw it, that light penetrated. Coming to Edmonton from the Maritimes in 1920, His Grace took up the arduous task of shepherding his large diocese. His vision was far-reaching and his apostolic zeal drove him onward toward its attainment. A truly Ecumenical Spirit animated him and he manifested it on all occasions serving those who needed him regardless of creed, because they needed him. True priest that he was, he fully realized that his great work was to bring Christ to his people and his people to Christ. This he strove to do with all the powers of both soul and body until his death in 1938. Many good works testify to the greatness of his life: one that we shall mention here was his work in the field of Catholic Education. It was the wish of his heart to promote where possible the establishment of Separate Schools. In 1960 the Edmonton Separate School Board built a beautiful Catholic High School at 87th and 132nd Avenue. They named it after Archbishop O ' Leary as a tribute to his memory. As the students pass his picture daily on the way to class we are reminded that his spirit--The Ecumenical Spirit must live on in us, for his is the true spirit of this school. He has lighted the torch--now the challenge is ours to do reverence to his honour and show forth Christ to the world of our day.

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Dear Envoy: Thank you for your kind letter of yesterday, requesting a short message for your yearbook. It is a pleasure to comply, though with the usual doubts concerning its interest to students; but the reputation of the O ' Leary High for serious study and good citizenship is so well es¬ tablished that enyone interested in the spread of Christian education would feel compelled to co-operate to the fullest possible degree. However, even the best schools are liable to have a few vandals, enough to show the need for complusory education. Recent newspaper reports concerning vandalism in some of our schools must have brought a sense of shame and sorrow to many parents as well as to the teachers and classmates of those concerned. To belong to a certain school, especially a High School where everyone has been already at school for a few years, and to know from experience that everything may be broken into or stolen anytime, is enough to convince us that we cannot yet claim for every family that honesty, purity and respect for the rights of others, which are always the fruits of a good Christian education. The above may seem to indicate that the O ' Leary High has been a disappointment. The answer is - by no means. We are very pleased with the school, and I am glad to have this opportunity of conveying my congratulations to all the graduands, along with my sincere thanks to their teachers and parents. The only reason for the above is that in any school or institution with so high an average of intelligence and good behaviour as yours, it does seem more dis¬ appointing to find a few who refuse to follow the general spirit of the school. My best wishes to all the graduates for pleasant and prosperous futures. Some will be teachers, others will be nurses, others again will enter some field of professional life. All these are good, though in the light of the need and the service rendered, the two first enjoy a preference. More money may be made in some of the others, but when has money contributed as much to human happiness as service to God and our neighbor has always done. Knowing the pressing’ need for more priests and religious, especially in missionary coun¬ tries, at least a few of the many souls called by God to His service will respond and enter the seminary or the novitiate to equip themselves in a fitting manner for the worthy and efficient discharge of the duties that will be incumbent upon them in those walks of life. But whatever walk you decide to follow, aim at being the best that your brains and oppor¬ tunities can make you. Don ' t ever be satisfied with being middling teachers or nurses, lawyers, doctors or engineers. There is already too much mediocrity in the world, and I am sure the graduates of O ' Leary High would never willingly stoop to adding to that mediocrity in any man¬ ner whatsoever. There is no necessity of my telling you of the Church ' s need of more priests and Sisters; nor of the State ' s need of more dedicated teachers and nurses. You are too intel¬ ligent to be unaware of these things, but your superiors in Church and State do often fear that you are not interested in them as you should be, seeing that these obligations incumbent upon you by the ten commandments. With warmest congratulations again , and best wishes for futures filled with service to those in spiritual or material needs, I remain. Sincerely in the Lord, Archbishop of Edmonton