The Irish standard., 1905-10-07
CATHOLIC GlRLHOOD,
Gifted Catholic Writer on the Above
Subject.

Subject.
Catholic girls walk with angels, and
therefore all men desire them"
ITO tete-a-tete with ones angel"
cries Il sociable Catholic girl, "is easy
enough; but my problem is how to
walk with angels and with mere men,
tool"
The social problem of Catholic girl
writes Mary Sarsfield Gilmore in the
New York Freeman's Journal. Spirit
ual ideals and natural desires seem
incompatible and conflicting. Natural
instincts of youth chafe against super
natural rule and restriction, and sug-
gest that fine moral distinctions are
scruples, and social conscience a super
iluous spiritual possession.
For, in spite of her soul-life the
Catholic girl is very human, open not
| only to the stress of the worlds temp
tations, but in a sweeter sense, to every
tender sentiment and emotion natural
to the woman heart. Dear in all sim
cerity as her angels are to her, she
does not pose as man-hater, nor af-
feet misogamy, but confesses to hopes
and dreams pure wOmanly," spiritual
ized by grace, indeed, but by no means
banished by it. Hence the spirit of the
times, which she cannot avoid assimil-
ating, tempts her on social grounds, to
meet men of the earth half way, rather
than to await their reluctant ascent to
her. She is scarcely at fault. She is
of her generation. But the delusions
of this temptation are a pity.
1t is lamehtable fact that the mod
ern mental attitude of sex toward SEX
lacks the beautiful old grace of rever-
ence. Individual exceptions assert
themselves to their own honor; but
these are too few and far between to
disprove the rule of reciprocal doubt
and disparagement. Speaking gen.
orally, men excuse their materialism
by accusing woman of spiritual deter
ioration; and girls not only distrust and
doubt their own loyalty to exalted
ideals, but deny that to love the high
est when they see it" is masculine
grace of the present day. Too, evil
IDENTIFY, romance died when woman
through the fault Of social misfortune,
was forced to recruit the masculine
ranks of daily workers for living
wages. Struggling for recognition and
reward side by side with all sorts and
conditions of men, she has lost her
primeval instinct of hero worship; even
as men, in their turn, have lost the IL
lusions poetizing the golden days of
chivalry. The veil of mystery rent, the
enchantment of distance dissolved, sex
scans sex face to face and assumes that
close vision must be clear -sighted-the
vital mistake of modern men and Wom-
en-. They forget that sight is true only
when it includes perfect insight; and
insight must be either long-ranged, or
impaired, or distorted, it being in the
nature of all fine and delicate things to
reveal themselves from afar, while
shrinking sensitively from irreverent
contact, Surface value is therefore the
most unreliable Of estimates, failing the
heights and missing the deeps of hu-
man entity, and appraising by the col
or and form of mere external attri-
butes, Gods created image and like
ness, whose manly measure the Apoca-
lypse tells us is the measure of an an
gel! Until men and women simply and
robiy turn back 10 first causes, and in
defiance Of mere illusory affects, gauge
and Judge one another only by soul,
heart and intellect, material sem
blances will triumph over spiritual
verities, and humanity halt on its
march of true progress!
-
The social problem Of Catholic girl
hood extends to all classes, challenging