St Mary of the Assumption High School - Assumpta Yearbook (Brookline, MA)

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Ivy Oration Within the shadow of the cross-crowned church where dwells our Leader and our great Exemplar, Christ-we gather to pay our tribute of tender affection and sincere gratitude to our beloved Alma Mater. In our expressions of praise today, we wish to symbolize our token of esteem and reverence in this little ivy plant-a fitting symbol of our aspirations to all that is highest and best in life. As this frail green vine will grow and flourish into a thing of beauty, revealing the love- liness of God's own handiwork, so will our souls, carefully moulded and guided in these formative years of training in Saint Mary's High School, grow strong and beautiful in time to come. And just as through sleet and rain and cutting wind, the sturdy little ivy will survive, so will our powers of mind and body withstand the cruel blasts of worldly ambition and the attacks of unptincipled men and women whom we shall meet along the road of life. In this war-torn world of today, may we be a power for good, a comfort to those in distress, may we remain calm and con- fident in the face of trial and danger, and may we be possessed of firmness of will and strength of character when the test will come,-as come it must,-to each and every one of us in the Class of 1941. 81 As the tiny sprig of tender green ivy grows to larger proportions, covering the age-old oak or the unlovely and crumbling edifice with its rich green mantle, so may our lives, nurtured here with fine Catholic principles, make beautiful a world of decadence and ugliness because of the sor- did deeds of men. Today we pledge our loyalty to Saint Mary's-to her teachings, to the ideals set before us each day-lofty ideals of noble living, steadfastness in faith, and courage in the face of duty. We have learned daily the lessons of sanctity, and of purposeful living, we have been kept all through our school days, close, very close to the Heart of Christ, Christ the All-Beautiful. May we in the ever changing years that are to come, cling to our Master and Friend, may we treasure the lessons we have learned from the devoted Priests and Sisters, and as we gaze, perhaps with tear- ful eye, into the future, veiled as it is from us now, may we remember the little ivy plant symbolizing today our best hopes, our promises,-fidelity to the good, the true and the beautiful in life-fidelity to our country and to God. MARGARET BARRETT

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SSLIVHP Commencement Ode With .rtalwurt hedrte und the Jtdnddrd of Chriet unfurled, Fifgf youth und three brave the din of 4 throbbing world, They now mutt hueten o'er the ,rpun und bridge of life And conquerorf be in the turbulent Jeu of Jarrow und Jtrife. Bewildered men and wandering hoete .rurge ucroee the Jed, Oft driven buck and .rtunned by unbelief and ineincerity, Ofttimeer the once vuloroue chumpione of God 'J truth und doctrine, Yet even now ure bujfeted und cower before beckoning fin. Deetruction loome o'er it world with ite nutione in Jtrife, Yet Forty-One muet commence to conquer the highwaye of life Reluctant Jtill, upon u journey Jtern und wide, they muet trod- A vieion cleur before each youthful Joul, und loyulty to God . Chrietiun churity be their puefword even through dungere foreeeen Chrittiun fuith und hope tower ubove the .rmoke und gleum, And poeeeu the heurte of youthful comrades, difpelling their feurx, Let Chriet be their Guide und Conqueror down through the yeure. DOROTHY H01 A. DUSTON

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Salutator This evening, as we close one of the most important and most enjoyable chapters of our life, we open a more serious and more complicated one, that of facing a world re- plete with false doctrines, a world bur- dened by a conflict that has swept thous- ands of homes and individuals into the common sea of ruin and misery. Indeed, if we trace back to the time of Noah and the flood the long and sorrowful sequence of misfortunes that mark the stages of man's earthly pilgrimage, it would be quite hard to find material distress so deep and so uni- versal as that which we are now experienc- ing. Even the greatest scourges that left indelible traces on the lives and memories of mankind struck only one nation at a time, but, now, on the contrary, the whole world is bound by the calamity. Commun- ism, Fascism, and Democracy are all struggling to gain control of this earth, and each one is against the other two. Yes, on this commencement evening, our Alma Mater sends us forth into the center of this battle, for we are one of the prizes sought. We are the ones, whom the leader of each political group will want on his side. The final choice, whether it be the godless governments or Christian Democ- racy, lies with us. As American youth, we accept this challenge and fearlessly re- spond to preserve democracy. For the past one hundred and fifty years it has been pro- tected by our forefathers from all kinds of danger. At this present time, these very same blessings of liberty and conscience are striving for an existence in the war-torn old world. The responsibility of its preser- vation now rests with us, the youth of America. And lest we forget, America will remain free only as long as we, and we alone, have what it takes to keep it free. minutes that we may consider Our Training or Demacmq with which we are so well Thus, it is well to pause here for a few f . l32l equipped to keep aflame the torch of liberty. On all sides we hear the voice of our fellow man calling out: What is freedom? What is this democracy which we are de- fending? Ah yes, my friends, the striking feature of the entire chaotic situation in the World is this: no one seems to realize how much bearing the Catholic Church has on the maintenance of this democracy. Look around the world today and study the different functions of the various gov- ernments. Study Communism, Fascism, Nazism, all are possessed with the same underlying principles. Like a star in the heavens, the United States stands out in the midst of all these godless governments, it stands out as the one and only ideal form of government in this pagan world, for it is established on that sacred dogma of the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. Today, more than ever, a democratic form of government, such as ours, de- mands a special training of its citizens in civic affairs. Moreover, if human rights and duties are to be regarded, and if the State is to respect the moral rights of the people, it must fall back upon the spiritual nature of man and the sanctions of Al- mighty God. Thus, in Democracy, Catho- lic Action must be given a prominent posi- tion in order that the youth of today can become acquainted with the rules of Divine Law and with the understanding of civic virtues. Towards this end, the Catholic Church has labored intensely with her zeal and facility for training in leadership. Catho- licism not only provides us with an educa- tion in the elements of right-thinking, Christian Doctrine, and good example, but it also pays particular attention to those who have extraordinary talent, and in- spires them to continue the development under Catholic Culture. It gives them the