St Francis College - Motus Yearbook (Biddeford, ME)

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3a. f'wwi m x 77- ; OJ L. 0' 220 'f utthL-r: The Flood House, which stood on the present front lawn, circa I910. This structure was remodeled in 1938 for use by the high school; it was removed in I950. The Right Reverend Monsignor Arthur M, Decary, PD. It was Monsignor Decary, the pastor of Saint Andre's Church, who invited the Franciscans to Biddeford. Inscribed in the marble of the temple to Apollo at Delphi are the words: KNOW THYSELF. The deep insight embodied in these words is typical of the wise Greek mind. This temple is 2500 years old and its ruins bear witness to its age, yet the applicability of this mandate has extended from age to age. It oppties to us as well as it did to the Greeks who developed a perfect balance be tween spirit and mind. Man is o microcosm, a universe unto himself, and in knowing himv self thoroughly he will know all else. The Saint Francis College motto Lucens et Ardens evidences its objective in education: to enlighten the mind and to kindle within the will noble ideals. We at Saint Francis College are pursuing courses in the Groeco- Judoic-Christian tradition which are geared to that end. Scnt Francis is a four year liberal arts College whose aim is to give the student both the cultural background necessary for an adequate understanding of his posture in our contemporary society and to give him a knowledge of the truths as they are derived from the various faculties. Throughout its ten year history, Saint Francis College has endeavored to integrate the vari- ous arts and sciences in a manner most bene- ficial to the students. The great classic teach- ers have always held that education to be complete must be intellectual, but also moral.

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14 John H. Reed STATE OF MAINE OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR Al' 1; l'STA JOHN H. REED GOVEQNOR The Graduating Class Saint Francis College Biddeford, Maine Greetings: It gives me great pleasure to extend the official greetings of the State of Maine as well as my own personal best wishes to the members of the graduating class of Saint Francis College. The year 1963 is indeed a significant one in your College's history, marking 05 it does the Tenth Anniversary of the chartering of this institution, the Twentieth Anniversary of the first high school graduation and the Thirtieth Anniversary of the coming of the Franciscan Fathers to Biddeford. Maine is proud of its fine institutions of higher learning and the contributions which they are making continually to prepare our young people to assume positions of responsibility in a changing world. I am confident that the 1963 graduates of Saint Francis College are well prepared to meet the challenges of adult life and that you have profited by the excellent opportunities which this fine College has oftorded you to gain greater knowledge. I wish each member of the graduating class of Saint Francis College every success in his future endeavors. Sincerely, M$L John H. Reed Governor

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Reverend Father Justinien Mercier, O.F.Mt the Franchcan fdary and Rs hrn supedov The founder of Decary Hall, circa 1914. True education is the art of developing and cultivating the various physical, intel- lectual, aesthetic and moral faculties. It is a bringing to fruition of the rationality and the unimality of the human being. Man is man and he who wouid deny his animality would err grievously. But for the great thinkers man has always been some- thing more. It is his spiritual nature which places him above the animal. Only an insti- tution which recognizes these spiritual dimen- sions can hope to pierce through the confines of materialism to the world of true morality and true education. Such were the aims of Saint Francis Col- lege when the State of Maine chartered it as a four-year liberal arts college in 1953. At that time, the trustees, their associ- ates and successors of the Franciscan Fathers of Maine were constituted a body politic and corporate by the name of Franciscan Fathers of Maine. The corporation was further em- powered and authorized to establish, main- tain and conduct at Biddeford an institution of higher learning to be known as Saint Francis College, and to provide in that College instruction in such languages and in the liberal and useful arts and sciences, including, but not limited to, courses in the humanities, sacred sciences, as the trustees of that corporation would determine; and to grant and confer at and through the College the academic degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science.