St Henry High School - Trojan Yearbook (Charleston, MO)

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THE YEAR --- 1976 The Right Reverend Charles Doolittle, Archbishop of St. Louis, is on his way to the new Cardinal ball park, the Rolcoon Park, to see the home team play their first World Series game. Keep your eyes on Archbishop Doolittle. He is an important light in Catholic life. Doctor Vernon Smithers, dean of men at Harvard University was in the box when Archbishop Doolittle arrived. Doctor Smithers has taught courses in the new simplified Smithers Shorthand in all the leading universities of the world during the past few years, and has done outstanding guidance work in each uni- versity. Harvard is indeed fortunate to have obtained the services of so great a man as Doctor Smithers. The game is about to start. Miss Nhry Kathryn Cassel, who has startled the world with her beautiful soprano voice, is going to sing the National An- them. Miss Cassel is accompanied by Miss Elizabeth Alice McGuirk, the concert pianist all Europe, Asia, Africa, and both Americas are speaking of so highly. Miss McGuirk began her career at Webster College in St. Louis. Her next con- cert tour will take her through a thickly populated region -- the South Pole. As the last strains of the song were dying away, a well-dressed little lady, the former Frances Scheffer, slipped into the Archbishop's box. She ex- plained that with four sets of twin boys and one set of triplet girls she is seldom able to be on time for anything, even though this is her husband's aft- ernoon off, and he is taking care of the children. She has recently been cho- sen nThe Ideal Mother of the Yearn by the N.C.W.C. because she conscientiously practices what she strongly advocated in the books she published before her marriage -- the mother belongs in the home and both parents, not some hired babyhsitter, are the trainers of the children. One glance at the line-up! The shortstop is Ace Coon, whose batting aver- age of .450 leads both leagues. Ace Coon was baptized Robert Horace. His nickname was acquired in high school when his friends called him Horace. The name was later shortened to Ace . Ace is especially noted for his home runs. He hits two positively every game played during the week and three in Sunday games. He has broken all records and his name will go down in baseball histo- ry. The pitcher is Bert Rolwing, thirty-nine game winner. After these two men the new park nRolcoonu has been named. Eight perfect innings passed and the score was 2 to 0 in favor of the Car- dinals. Bert was just three cuts away from fame, the first pitcher to pitch a perfect game in a World Series. The first two batters went down in rapid order. The third has three balls and two strikes. Yer out I boomed the Umpire as the next ball shot over the plate into the catcher's mitt. The first to congratulate Bert was Mayor Frank Schaffer of Charleston. Mayor Scheffer had been delayed by the Mayor of St. Louis and the Mayor of New York, both of whom wanted first-hand information on the success the Mayor of Charleston had in enforcing the exact observance of the Pope's Eneyclicals in the business and politi al life of Southeast Missouri. After the game, the members of the Class of 1951 met at the Chase Hotel for a re-union banquet during which Miss Mary Kathryn Cassel sang a loving tribute to the one absent member, Kenneth Houston.

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SAINT MARY GORETTI On October 16, 1890 in the little Italian village of Corinaldo, M ry Gor- retti was born. Her parents were poor share croppers with a fervent devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Less than twenth-four hours after her birth, the ugly stain of original sin was cleansed from the soul of Mary through Baptism. At an early age she developed an advanced sense of purity, kindness and re- sponsibility. Due to extreme poverty, the Goretti family moved to a tenant farm when Mary was six. The long hours and extremely hard work caused the death of her father in 1900. Alexander Serenelli, a tenant laborer, has his quarters in the Goretti home. Mary's beauty appealed to the young man, whose early life had been spent in corrupt conditions. He made impure advances but was scornfully rejected. On July 5, 1902, determined in his sinful ways, A1- exander commanded Mary to sin or die. Bravely, Mary defied him and was stab- bed fourteen times. When found, the dying virgin was rushed to a nearby hos- pital. A painful operation failed to counteract the severity of the many wounds. Surrounded by her mother and friends, Mary forgave her m rderer and went to her eternal reward in the glory of heaven. During the trial, Alexander tried in vain to demoralize the little mar- tyr, but to no avail. He was sentenced tc thirty years of hard labor. ' One evening, while sitting in his cell, Mary appeared to Alexander, again forgave him, and asked him to repent and to pray hard for heaven. Alexander was ins spired by Mary's words and began a new life. When released after twentyefour years, Alexander journeyed to Corinaldo, obtained the forgiveness of Assunta, Mary's mother, and soon after attached himself to a monastery as a laborer where he still lives in prayer and repentance. Through the testimonies of the anew' Alexander and the acknowledgment of various miracles connected with the young martyr, Mary Goretti was beatified on April 27, 1947. Then on June 24, 1949, before the third largest crowd ev- er to gather in Peter's Square, Pope Pius XII canonized the virgin martyr, Saint Mary Goretti. In 1947, when Mother Cabrini was canonized, every leading newspaper in America proclaimed the event in bold-type headlines. Yet, the canonization of Mary Goretti was met with small third or fourth page articles by these same newspapers. Can it be that our country has become so depraved that purity is no longer considered an admirable characteristic? Has Am rica become so mate- rialistic that such bravery in the face of death an be scoffed at as 'old- fashioned ? How can a nation, while praying for peace, practice or invite im- morality and yet expect a successful outcome? we have chosen Saint Mary Goretti as our class Patron for we feel that, since she has lived in our own times, she knows cur problems first hand. May she help us live as she lived that, some day, we may enjoy Heaven with her. ' Charles Doolittle '51