Seattle University - Aegis Yearbook (Seattle, WA)

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(Eamm flatrirk £ ljpH)ait, 0.0. X the death of Canon Sheehan Ireland has lost one of her greatest and most loyal sons. His life and work were typical of the true spirit which binds together in one most sacred brotherhood, all whether priests or laity who belong to the spiritual body of Christ, the Church. He was the possessor of a great mind, world-famed, yet in the simple village of Doneraille no child was unknown to him and every little face brightened as it saw the parish priest coming along the road, or in the school room, when each day he came to bid the children welcome. Nor were the poor unknown to him, for every one came with his sorrows to Canon Sheehan as to a true priest, a wise and most generous friend. It is related by the late Canon’s own bishop, that the deceased priest had arranged with him for the distribution amongst the poor of all the profits from his literary works. But Canon Sheehan's great literary power was fully on a par with his piety and remarkable devotion to his priestly duties. His contributions to literature were many and great, and consist principally of Irish characters. Among the many who have written on Ireland and her people Canon Sheehan stands in a class apart. He entered into the feelings of the people and sounded the utmost depths of the Irish heart. “He was of their very own, kindly Irish of the Irish. His faith was their faith, his inspiration was their inspiration, his aim was their aim, while his land was their land.” He believed in the written word and hence he wrote. His voice could reach but a few in his little village of Doneraille; he could reach thousands with his pen. The ideal which Canon Sheehan cultivated all through his literary career and to which his pen was true to the end is ably stated in the following words: “Our fiction, our poetry, our drama and our art must be above all things pure; a Catholic writer would rather put his right hand into the fire than write much that passes for art and literature in our days.”

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13 EDUCATIONAL MORALITY ests of society. And notwithstanding the records of antiquity, history bears eloquent evidence of the sagacity of her educational policy. Let us hope that this broad nation of ours, great in accomplishments, great in the prospect of a still more glorious future, will harken to the eloquent voice of the august teacher of ( hristendom and secure the favors and blessings, of a true democracy for the generations yet to come, by freely bestowing on every child the advantages of a Christian education. 'file Church and the home should enforce the work of the school, but the class room which rules by far the greater part of the child’s active mental life is the only channel to which we must look for that moral and intellectual enlightenment, that supremeness of design and that loyalty to duty which should characterize the American citizen, and which religious education alone can bring forth. As long as our educational system forgets the soul in trying to perfect mind and body, crime will increase, for where there is no God, there is no conscience. Xor can educators afford to forget that “when Christ our Master comes for the final examination he will not ask how well we spoke and disputed, but how we lived,” “Xon quid legimus, sed quid fecimus, non quam bene diximus, sed quam religiose viximus.” JOHN F. DOUGHERTY, ’15.

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15 CAN09 PATRICK SHEEHAN, D. DC In an address to the Catholic Truth Society of Ireland, Canon Sheehan states the position of the Catholic writer in the following words: “The Catholic writer must write in the solemn, majestic presence of truth which he has learned to love and revere all his life, and if tempted by avarice or a desire of fame, to ignore or forget her, then there stands by that eternal monitor, Conscience, to rebuke and remind him that he must write as from his death-bed and leave no line that he should wish to blot.” Canon Sheehan published many excellent works. His first novels were “Geoffrey Austin,” and “My Xew Curate.” The tribute that Canon Barry pays to “The Triumph of Failure,” the book that won an international reputation for Canon Sheehan, as an author, is true of most of his literary works. “With learning in plenty, secular and sacred, with flashes and gleams undoubtedly of genius; in a language always touching, of an eloquent style in the austere mood, Celtic and none other, that seemed to be falling out of a world not worthy of it.” The Catholic priest has been misrepresented in many works of fiction, but in ‘My New Curate we have genuine types of the priest in the ordinary routine of his ministry. Thus the old pastor in his story of “Daddy Dan has done much to break down the walls of prejudice by giving us these priestly characters of his facile pen. “Luke Delmege, which appeared later was also a remarkable book. “Under the Cedars and Stars” and “Perarga” its companion were published in 1903. Canon Sheehan’s next publication was “Glenanaar, a novel which portrays Irish life. This was followed by “Lisheen.” Father Sheehan wrote many essays and lectures most of which are contained in his book entitled “Farly Essays and Lectures, of which he writes himself: “I have selected these short essays froln several magazines, some of more ancient, some of more modern date.” The “Intellectuals,” published in 1911 are reveries and sketches dealing with the modern problems of Irish life. In “The Blindness of Dr. Grey,” we find that the Canon's reputation as a novelist is well sustained. “It was our privilege.” says a reviewer, to receive a personal letter of appreciation for our review of his last published work