St Francis Xavier Academy - Xavier Yearbook (Providence, RI)

Page 14 text:

II ...... IT “The Xavier”

Page 13 text:

May 26, ’midst great cheering, waving of flags and pennants, our dearly beloved Bishop departed for the “Eternal City,” to pay his official visit to our lloly Father. During his travels, he expects to witness the famous “Passion Play in Oberainniergau,” and on his return from the Continent, he will make a short stay in Ireland. We regret his absence from our graduation exercises, but we are comforted in this, that his encouragement and holy blessing were sent in advance. That our dear Bishop may have “bon voyage” and a safe return, is the daily prayer of his devoted children, the pupils of Saint Xavier’s. Pope Benedict XV., the “Prince of Peace,” a most worthy successor of Saint Peter, surrendered his noble soul to God, January 22, 1922. The great Shepherd of Rome, undaunted by the horrors of war, was ever solicitous for the welfare of Christ’s Church and for humanity. What love and gratitude does not the whole Christian world owe to this glorious Pontiff? Proud is the Class of ’22, to link the year of its graduation from S. X. A. with the demise of Pope Benedict XV. “Requiescat in Pace.” “Requiescat in Pace.” Two further items of interest that now absorb us are the Annual Retreat and the Arbor Day Program. The Retreat, to be given by Reverend John L. Coonev, will open on May seventeenth. Father Cooney is known to us as an eloquent and unctuous speaker. We all look forward to the Retreat with very great zest. Resolutions will be the order of these days. The Arbor Day Exercises will take place on May tenth. This year we dedicate our tree to the “Pope of Peace,” Benedict XV. The Xavier' Page Keren

Page 15 text:

Pius XI. a XI) behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.” These divine words, spoken to Saint Peter when he was made Christ’s Vicar on earth, are the infallible testimony of the life and stability of the Papacy. The guiding hand of the Holy Ghost has piloted the Bark, Peter through persecution, heresy, schism, usurpation and irreligion from the time of Saint Peter down through the ages and even to the glorious reign of our late, lamented and beloved Holy Father, Benedict. XV. Now that the smoke of battle has cleared away, all men avow that the Holy See maintained justice and charity in its dealings with the contending hosts; the world appreciated Benedict XV and realized that lie guided the Papacy in dark and difficult days. God saw tit to bring his reign to a close and to give, in his place, one whose election was a subject of international interest. When, from the Sacred College came the announcement “Habemus ponti-licein—We have a pontiff, Pius XI. formerly Ilis Eminence, Cardinal Achille Ratti,” not only the two hundred thousand people who stood expectantly without, rejoiced, but likewise the whole Catholic world. And when the newly-elected Pontiff came out to give his blessing to his assembled children, their enthusiasm and joy increased, for he bestowed his first apostolic Benediction from the exterior balcony overlooking the Square of Saint Peter’s. This is the first time, since the separation of the Church and State, that the Pope has given his blessing from the loggia of the basilica. The act seems to signalize that he believes in the policy of peace, restoration, and harmonious relations with the Quirinal. The eleventh Pius does not belong to the nobility of Italy. His father. Francisco Ratti, a silk spinner, was able to give all his children a good education; but, because of his unusual capacity for learning, Achille was especially favored. He received his first training from Don Guiseppe Voluntieri, a priest who conducted a private school in Deseo. Under the venerable teacher, Achille Ratti advanced greatly in both secular and spiritual education. At the age of ten, he became conscious of his vocation to the altar and consequently he passed to the seminary of St. Peter the Martyr, where he greatly distinguished himself. He next spent two years in the seminary of Monza and a third year at the college of San Carlo in Milan. Three years more were passed at the Seminario Maggiore, whence, by the order of the Archbishop of Milan, lie was sent to Rome to be a pupil of the Collegio Lombardi, with a scholarship to continue his studies at the1 Gregorian University. Tin- Xavier Page Niue