The San Francisco call., 1910-01-16
FRENCH ACADEMY
HONORS WOMEN
Prizes of Virtue Are Awarded
TO Brave BretOns for
Christian Deeds
Touching Instances of UnOsten-
tatiOus Duty in Alienation
OF Suffering
Especial Dispoioh 10 The Call


distribution OF prizes of virtue"
bringing TO light some touching in
stances of genuine, uEostentatious
heroism.
In lsS4 a wealthy citizen of Paris, the
baron de Montyon. presented the French
academy with a sum of 1900 francs.
the revenue Of which was TO be given
every year To any man or woman who
had performed a remarkable "acte de
Nertu." or good action. Since then
other donations have increased the
fund. and every year the academy dis
tributes considerable sum of money
10 a large number Of persons who have
distinguished themselves by deeds Of
deVo1edncss. charity or courage.
Ii IS curious TO note how, in these
days Of religious persecution, the most
interesting and worthy of the prize
winners are the priests and nuns whom
the French government persecutes in
SO cowardly and crafty a fashion,
proof that love OF Gcd is the strongest
handspring OF noble deeds of charity.
Among the most interesting Of the
prize winners are three young Breton
nuns 10 whom the sum of 1000 francs
was awarded. They belong to the con-
-SreEa tion of St Joseph de Cluny and
devote themselves TO the care Of lepers
in the island OF Mangarewa in the Pa
cilc ocean. So far from the beaten
track is this lonely rock that letters
are only delivered twice a year by a
sailing boat from Tahiti. Here these
three brave women conduct a hospital
FOR lepers Until they themselves be-
come victims of the hideous disease
they bring hope, comfort and JOY into
the lives Of these incurables.
Their letters TO their families in Brit
rauv. says N. de Vogue, are bright with
charity and full Of superhuman peace.
Until lately these noble sisters had
school for little girls. but the French
government to whom the desolate ISL
and belongs. deemed that, although
they We're worthy to nurse the lepers,
they We're unfit 10 teach the children
Of the islanders, and, like the sisters
i'm France. they were obliged TO close
their school
Another important prize, 5000 francs,
was given TO work founded by
priest in the wild mountains of Au-
Nergne. In 1856 a young priest, the
Abbe Robert. used in the gorge of De-
Neze q wretched house that had become
his property to lodge an epileptic
child whom he carried on his shoulders
up the steep mountain path. Two poor
women came TO help him. and the
the house, where soon two, three, four
and five incurable children were
brought by their parents.
Then Pere Robert began to build in
earnest. and now a large hospital for
incurables. served by so nuns, stands
In the center Of the gorge. Around il
are cultivated fields and orchards and
throughout the two departments" of
CantaI and Aveyron this house where
hopeless sufferers find home is de-
servedly popular.
Its founder. a sanity man. died last
December, when he was more than 50
years Of age. and the MOntyOn prize
is awarded to the superioress of the
hospital who. during 40 years, was his
fcVoted assistant.
We must remember that the academy.
through which these prizes are allotted
and distributed. is not religious body,
although many Of its members are hlgn
minded and religious men. Better than
any homiIy. the deeds Of the best among
The prize winners proclaim the fact
that faith in God is the safest and high
est road TO charity toward men.
The federation called Les Amicales
in France, claiming a membership of
TOO. 900 lay teachers, has summoned the
French bishops before the courts OF
law on the ground that the recent joint
pastoral letter on the abuses of the
public school system in France was a
personal insult, for which the teachers
are resolved to obtain legal damages
That the textbooks condemned by
the bishops fully deserve their censure
IS admitted even by the Temps Of Paris,
Protestant paper which usually In
clines 10 side with the government
writer signing himself Junius in
the Echo de Paris has been publishing
a series OF comments on current events
which have attracted much attention
among French readers. Upon this ques-
'tion he aptly remarks that the gov
ernncnt teachers. when they rose in
Indignation against the bishops, really
served the cause they professed to at
tack. Their violent partisanship Of
rhe censured textbooks proved how
utterly fallscious is the religious 'neu-
trality" which in 1882 was established
by law in France. BY attacking the
bishops they proclaimed the fact that
they consider themselves free to teach
atheism and they thereby destroyed
the fable Of the neutral schools"
Those who so far believed in the neu-
trality Of thee government schools can
not henceforth close their eyes to the
fact that neutrality does not exist and
that the children who attend these
schools are. under pain of being ex-
PEELED. obliged to learn irreligion. In
a country which processes to be free.
where liberty is everywhere written on
the walls this discovery may rouse
earnest and sincere minds to action.
Mgr. Pozzi of Trenton. \. J.. speak
ing Of mis- native land. Italy. gives a
startling picture of present conditions
there as regards Catholic interests gen
orally. He declares that the atheistic
and anti-Christian teachings Of Vol
faire. Rousseau. Diderot and the en-
l,-clopedists of French revolutionary
fame did not confine themselves to the
French side OF the Alps. 1t was from
them that Ma zzini. -Cavour. Garibaldi
and other italian agitators and writers
frnbibed the poison which they freely
lfstriSute I'd to their fellow countrvmen.
No wonder. therefore, that irreligion
g rampant in the universities of italy
md that indimerentism reigns in the
common public schools. The war on
Christ has been waged ceaselessly and
with sa1anic ingenuity for several gen
erations until even the very symbol of
our Crucified Redeemer is banished from
the walls Of the classroom. The text
books of history that are put into the
hands Of the little ones are instinct
v--h a spirit that is hostile TO religion
and 10 Christ's vicar on earth.