St Gabriels High School - Archangel Yearbook (Hazleton, PA)

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The TRUMPET QQ l The Religious Element in Education fContinuedj of purity and modesty. The atmosphere of If the chief end of education is virtue, if religion is the natural medium for the develop- ment of character. If we accept the doctrines of religion, we can distinguish between right and wrong, and therefore guard against wrong doing. The school, of course, is but one of the many agencies in education. NVe are under the in- fluences of our whole environment, physical, moral, and intellectual: political. social and re- ligious. The family is a school and the church is a school: and the present American opinion assigns to them the business of moral and re- ligious education. But this means that conduct and character are of secondary importance. It 111621115 that the child may be subject to opposite influences at home and in school, and thereby have a line sense of reverence, truth and good- ness deadened. conduct is three-fourths of life, if character is indispensable, while knowledge is only useful, then it follows that religion, which has power to create virtue, to inspire conduct, and to form character, should enter into all processes of education. The deeper tendency of the present age is not to exclude religion from any vital process. but rather to widen the idea of religion until it embraces the whole life of man. VVhether we work for knowledge or freedom, purity or strength, beauty or health, any thing that is necessary for completeness in life, we work with Cod and for God, in the school as in the home. ln whatever place a man may find himself with God. In Him he moves, and lives, and has his being. MARGARET A. McNlcR'rNrav, '26, cTOTI10'Y'Y'OlfU,S journey VVhere shall it lead?-l'pon this mystic, com- pletely veiled, and puzzling question, Brother john, a representative of St. Thomas's College, Scranton, delivered a most inspiring and inter- esting lecture. llrother John vividly portrayed the oft disastrous consequences resulting from the failure of choosing a vocation and the good we can accomplish by mapping out our life work, laying particular stress upon an early choice. The clarity aml simplicity of Brother .lohn's mode of expression was so impressive, that it held the whole attention of his'entire audience. .Xs a means to illustrate the different phases of one's life, he used a simile, depicting the disas- trous consequences which some time follows the missing of a train. He cited a personal incident which had occurred that morning. He intended to come to Hazleton at an earlier hour, but had missed his train. However, he had an opportunity to make the trip later, but pointed out that if we should choose the wrong path or miss our way, the loss would be irreparable. Brother J0hn's much needed hints concerning life's ever-troubled waters won for him the true admiration of his listeners. He may feel quite sure that we will profit by his instructions. jositvu j. Biusmn, '26. -a 1 1 E791

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The TRUMPET 'Q' 'iq' 1 1 1 wg. The Religious Element in Education HE theory of development, which is now widely received and applied to all things, is at once a sign and cause of the almost unlimited confidence which we put in their remedial and transforming power of education. We no longer think of God as standing aloof from nature and the course of history but we feel that we move in the direction towards which He impels. Education, therefore, we deem nec- essary, not merely because it is so absolutely essential to any kind of life, but also because God has made development the law of both conscious and unconscious nature. Man exists that he may make himself like Godg in other words, that he may educate himself, for the end of education is to fit him for complete- ness in life, to train all his faculties. to call his endowments into play, and to make him equally whole in body and soul. This is the ideal and to take a lower view of it, is to take a partial view. Years ago, to make education universal, it was necessary to levy a school tax, and as this could be done only by the state, the state estab- lished systems of education and assumed the office of teacher. The result of all this has been that the school, which throughout christen- dom is the creation of the church, has in most countries very largely passed into the control of the civil government. This transference of control, need not, how- ever, exclude religious influence and instruc- ti'ong though once the state has gained control, the natural tendency is to limit the functions of the school to the training of the mental faculties. As a matter of fact, this tendency is most pronounced in the educational theories and systems of positivists and agnostics. Since they maintain that there is no God, or that we can- not know that there is a God, they conclude that it is absurd to teach children anything about God. To bring up the young with such views is to teach them what is false, and to give a wrong direction to the whole course of life. But apart from all theories and systems of belief and thought, public opinion in America sets strongly against the denominational school. The civilized world now recognizes the nec- essity of a popular education. In a government such as this, intelligence should be universal. In such a government, to be ignorant is not only to be weak, it is also to be dangerous to the common welfare. for the ignorant are the tools which unscrupulous men use to taint the source of public authority and to baffle the will of the people. To protect itself, the State is forced to establish schools and to see that all acquire at least the rudiments of letters. But the American State can give only a secular educa- tion, for it is separate from the church, and its citizens profess such various beliefs, that in establishing a school system, it is compelled to eliminate the question of religion. Church and State are separate institutions, and their func- tions are different and distinct. Americans are a christian people. Religious zeal iinpelled their ancestors to the New World, and when schools were first established here, they were established by the churches, and religious instruction formed an important part in education. This was only natural, and as the school was the daughter of the church, she has doubtless rendered invalu- able service to civilization. The Catholic view of the school question is as clearly defined as it is well known. It rests upon the general ground that man is created for a supernatural end, and that the church is the divinely appointed agency to help him to attain his supreme destiny. As education is a train- ing for completeness of life, its primary element is the religious, for complete life in God. A Complete man is not one whose mind alone is active and enlightened, the man who is alive in all his faculties is the complete man. Religion is the vital element in character, and to treat it as though it were but an incidental phase of I1l3.I'1,S life is to blunder in a matter of the highest and most serious import. The education which forms character is absolutely necessary, that which trains the mind is desir- able. To exclude religion is to exclude the spirit of reverence, of gentleness and obedience. 4 l I l 1 O i781

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The TRUMPET -n 1 1 l 1 1 1 l Qa- Disillusion UT I can't go with both of you l With these words pretty Charm Bailey stopped and stared helplessly at the two young men before her. It was a warm night in June, the eve of the great Junior Prom at Nevard College. A full moon shone clearly in the quiet sky, and a soft breeze wafted the fra- grance of roses from the flower garden to the three standing on the porch. This t'Prom , being the greatest social event of the season. was eagerly anticipated by the belles of Nevardtown, who made up the majority of female guests. The girls of the town who had not been invited to attend the dance thought that nothing could be as humiliating, but Charm found herself in an equally awkward position, by having an oversupply of escorts. The two young men who had asked her were close friends: indeed, the currents of their lives had run parallel from the time of their birth, within a few months of each other, until the time they left the sleepy little middle western town of Creston and came East to Nevard College. Here they roomed together and remained inseparable through three years of col- lege life. In appearance they were very different, Larry Moylan was a blond young giant somewhat slow in his movements, while Guy Randolph was of a slighter build with the dark coloring .generally attributed to the Latin races. Guy's quick, vivacious manner and fluent speech were also a direct contrast to the more phlegmatic temperament of his companion. They were introduced to Charm while dining at a professor's home and she, as had many young women before, fell under the spell of Guy's winning person- ality, and invited him to visit herself and her mother, much to the chagrin of her former favorite, Edmund Kearney. It did not seem unusual that Larry should go too, but as the visits gradually became weekly he began to be left out on the porch, where he either helped Mrs. Bailey wi11d yarn for her interminable knitting or read extracts from her well loved Pilgrim's Progress , while the two young folks entertained each other in the house. They spent a lot of their time dancing, being a graceful pair whose steps matched perfectly. It was understood between the two that they would go together to the Prom, therefore when Larry said, Come with me to the dance , the shock was startling and unpleasant. For a moment they both gazed at him but Charm recovered her poise quickly and told him that .Q ' Randolph's invitation was understood but it was im- possible to go with both of them. Then, with a tact characteristic of her, she picked up the evening paper from a porch table, and moving to the light, turned the pages at random till she came to the announce- ment that two professional basketball teams, the Scholastic Five and Zaletown All Stars, would play for the championship of the state. t'Pick your teams and I will go with the one whose team wins , she said lightly. They tossed up a coin and Randolph won as usual. He chose the Zaletown All Stars, then they left to await the outcome of the game. As Charm entered the house her mother overheard the half-anxious but wholly self-satisfied exclamation, I hope it's Guy, but anyhow it will give the college something to talk about. When the roommates went back to their dormitory they tried to act as if nothing had come between them, yet in his secret heart each knew that the veil of their friendship had been severed by the keen blade of jealousy. After nervously pacing the fioor for a few minutes Guy went to bed, but Larry studied a short while before retiring. The gay jests that usually passed between the two about the day's events were noticeably missing. Long before the first bell rang for breakfast the following morning they were out of bed and after dressing hastily ran down and bought a morning paper. Guy turned the pages frantically two or three times in an effort to find the desired article. At last Larry, looking less calm than usual, snatched the paper from his hands and discovered the item almost immediatelyg after perusing it quickly they gazed astoundingly into each other's faces. The score was 17-17. We'll have to do something before tonight , put in the dazed Randolph. Yes , agreed Moylan, but, what? The second gong sounded so they went to the dining-room with the question unsolved. Noon came, and although the two literally-racked their brains no solution had as yet presented itself. As the afternoon wore on Randolph became noticeably desperate. The strain was telling even on Larry. It was disclosed by the constant shifting of position as he sat in the classroom and by the jerkiness of his voice and the hesitancy of his manner when he at- tempted to recite. When Larry came in from classes and started to lay out his tuxedo, Guy inquired irritably, Still E801