St Francis College - Motus Yearbook (Biddeford, ME)

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Although there is need of improvement in the Religious Program, to say that Saint Francis has been completely by-passed by the spirit of ecumenism would be to greatly belie the actual situation. To some extent we can measure the opportunities given by Saint Francis to the stu- dent to mature in a directly religious way. In addition to the four year theology curriculum which undeniably includes much of the philos- ophy courses, these opportunities are many and fruitful. The principal organizations devoted to the students' spiritual development are the Third Order of Saint Francis and the Future Priests Club. However these' groups are select and total membership is relatively small. The gen- eral opportunities attorded the entire student body are the daily services in the student chapel including Mass, confession and the weekly serv- ices with Benediction and the Way of the Cross. Also the religious on the faculty provide especial advantages for personal friendships, frequent consultations and casual discussions. As a natural consequence of the present Ecumencial Council and from the awareness of the need for Christians of all denominations to commit themselves continually to the search for knowledge which makes action possible, Saint Francis College sponsored a Symposium on April eighth and ninth entitled The Christian In the Modern World. Under the able organizational quarterbacks David DeTurk and Alfred Poulin, Jr., the Symposium stimulated thought concern- ing the role of the Christian in our world and gave impetus to the burgeoning Catholic- Protestant dialogue in the New England Area. The representative and appreciative attendance left no doubt that Saint Francis College had the potential to become a foremost institution of theological concern and had succeeded in foster- ing and maintaining an ecumenical spirit, the Spirit of Christ. We, the graduates of 1963, hope that Saint Francis College will always remain united to Holy Mother Church in her attempt to foster an ecumenical attitude which accepts the Testa- ment's teaching on Baptism that all who are validly baptized are members of the Mystical Body of Christ. Dialogue about and examination of the common heritage of our pluralistic society will inevitably lead to the union in worship of all confessions to the same Truth. The joy derived from what We share will enable us to come closer and closer in the love which is Christ. Saint Francis College will succeed as a Catholic college if it otters the student opportunities for scholarly theological pursuits and aftords him the opportunity to worship God in a vital and personal dialogue. In this way it will give him, what we the graduates are thankful for, a posture in the great Graeco-Judaic-Christian intellectual tradition and the illumination of his role in its development by the fire of Pentecost. e FRANCIS LEBEAU.

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20 Commenting on the apathetic curriculum of Theology on too many Catholic college cam- puses, a friend of mine once said, If theology is the reason for setting up separate colleges, then the Catholic college, no m'atter how strong it may be in the humanities and sciences, fails if its theology fails. This statement in no way implies that educa- tional experience should be made subservient to the development of virtue. Saint Francis Col- lege or any other Catholic College will be able to justify its existence as a Catholic college only by first being a good college. Although God has destined that we someday become citizens of heaven, the fact remains that He also has willed that, while on earth, we live as citizens of earth bringing all things under subjection by the sweat of our brows. Only if the inculcation of virtue and the transference of knowledge be brought to a harmonious blend will any Catholic institution develop psychologically whole and spiritually holy individuals. Education essentially prepares man for what he must be and for what he must do here below, in order to attain the sublime end for which he was created. The Theology curriculum must catalyze the conquest of the internal and spirit- ual freedom to be achieved by the individual Christicn-the man who must think, fudge and act constantly and consistently in accordance with right, reason and faith in Christ. For many students, fulfilling their Easter duty and attending Mass on Sunday is the extent of their participation in a religion which they find not too inconvenient. For altogether too many the power of the living Christ has been vulgarly and gratuitously debased to the pose ture given an ordinary historical figure. Catholie cism has become merely a part of their social inheritance devoid of belief in a personal God. Yet a Catholic college graduate must be con- ditioned by the dogmatic norm of his Catholi- cism. He must be able to extricate himself from the flagrant materialism that is so characteristic of contemporary American society. He must be able to pierce through the isolation of scholarly theses on disciplinary measures of the Councils, the penitential practices of matrimonial law or administrative organization, to the world of union with God through worship in Christ. As in other Catholic colleges, the theology program at Saint Francis College is presently being challenged by these very pressing de- mands and it will prove itself equal to the task only if, in the spirit of Christ, it adapts itself to the modern intellectual atmosphere which has undergone significant changes. The challenge confronting the community of scholars at. the Second Vatican council is quite the same as that confronting the Division of Theology at Saint Francis: they must be committed to the scientific investigation of truth and to the maintenance and extension of knowledge and its application to life both private and public.

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22 By the end of the Fifties criticism of Catholic higher education had become so incessant as to be almost trite. A century of silence was broken only by a few perspicacious and daring indi- viduals, and, when the initial shock subsided, Catholic educators settled down for a truly criti. cal appraisal of their system. They found that the accomplishments of Catholic higher education were quite momentous. Five generations of a predominantly immigrant minority group had constructed a huge system of schools on 267 campuses, including 31 uni- versities, enrolling 322,000 students. These schools graduated countless doctors, lawyers, teachers and businessmen. Their alumni were successful and respected members of almost every community. At the same time, however, this educational system had failed in the attain- ment of one goaI-excellence; too often it had even neglected to adapt such a goal. Where, asked the critics, are the Catholic scholars? Where are the leaders in the arts and sciences? The answer often was that they did not exist at all. The critics asked, where was there a Catholic college or university which could compare with the quality of the finest secular colleges? The answer again was that such an institution did not exist. Saint Francis was affected by this discussion no less than any other Catholic college. Yet be- cause of the brevity of its educational experience, Saint Francis was excused by most critics as a school that had not yet matured. This, in a certain sense, was true. However there must come a moment when a careful analysis of Saint Francis' stature in the field of education is not only required, but necessary. If Saint Francis is a different college in 1963 than it was in 1959, this change is evident in many segments of the life of the school. The curriculum is one of Saint Francis College's strong points. Solidly liberal arts, the College eliminated courses in business administration and account- ing several years ago, and has structured its courses around four divisions, namely Humani- ties, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences and Mathe- matics, as well as Theology and Philosophy. Among the outstanding features in the curri- culum are several new courses. One of these, Modern Christian Literature, was instituted as an inter-departmental course utilizing the full resources of the Division of Humanities. With four professors, the course first explored the state of contemporary man through a study of Romano Guardini, Nicholas Berdyaev, Teilhard de Char- din, Karl Adam and Thomas Merton. The con- centration was then shifted to modern French authors, especially Leon Bloy, Charles Peguy, Paul Claudel, Georges Bernanos and Julien Green. The instructor in American Christian Literature varied the approach to include writers whose points of view are influenced either con- sciously or unconsciously by the divine redemp- tion of man. Thus the course was abie to consider writers such as Nathanael West and William Faulkner. The section of English Chris- tian Literature focused mainly upon Gerard Manley Hopkins and T. 5. Eliot. Although the course exhibited a need for better organization, it did stimulate student response and the Division of Humanities is to be congratulated for its initiative and vision. Two other courses are worthy of special note. The first is the directed study in French Literature, offered on alternate years. Thanks to Mr. Paren-