The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1913-10-25
THE CATHOLIC BULLETIN, OCTOBER Is, 1913.

argument that the benefits and bless
ings resulting from faith and morals
preserved in the parochial school re-
dound to the good of the whole COM
munity. The result of all this will be
that the laity belonging to the parish
will regard no other institution, after
the parish church itself, more sacred
nor regard it with more solicitude
than the parochial school, as destined
to conserve the faith and morals of
their children and to make it the
fruitful source of triumph and COM
fort for the future. The laity should
give a sufficient and generous sup
port to the schools. They should,
therefore, unite their efforts, so as to
be able to meet all the necessary ex-
penses of the parochial school. The
faithful must be reminded by pastoral
letters, by sermons and by private in
terviews, that they offend %grievously
against their duty if they neglect by
every possible effort and expense to
provide for Catholic schools. This
should more especially be brought
home to the minds of those Catholics
who are popular by their wealth and
authority. Parents should, therefore,
promptly and willingly pay the little
monthly tuition fee which is exacted
for each child. The other members
of the parish, however, must not be
unwilling to establish and increase
such church funds as may be reason
able or necessary for the mainte-
nance of the schools. All, then, wheth-
er parents or other heads of families,
or young people who have means of
their own, should be ready to lend
their m to any society (the ex-
istence of which in every parish is
greatly to be recommended, many
having been established and signally
blessed by the Sovereign Pontiff) by
which they may help by regular con-
tributions, however small they may
be, to support the schools, and to
make them, if only in part at least,
free schools. If all the faithful do
their share toward this most sacred
object the result will be the improve
ment in the external excellence of
the schools, the number of teachers
will be increased and the pupils dis
tributed in smaller classes, all of
which will wonderfully tend to raise
our schools to a higher standard of
perfection" CHI. Plen. c. Bait, No.
2O2.)
The same council directs that there
shall be built and perpetually main
tanned a parish school near every
church, and that a mission or parish
which so neglects to assist the priest
in the building and support of the
school, that through its sheer indif-
ference such cannot be kept up, fails
sadly in obligations vital to its exist
ence. Catholic parents should send
their children to the parochial schools,
unless they provide sufficiently, either
at home or in some other Catholic
school, for their Christian education.
Higher education should also be en-
couraged, but parents should not, in
response to modern social demands,
~perpetuate the objectionable wrong
of exposing the faith their children re
ceived in holy baptism to inevitable
shipwreck. The church amply pro-
vides, as she ever has done in the
past, for the proper development of
every faculty belonging to the child.
The success of our parish schools
must be especially attributed to the
kind and self-sacriieing teachers who
have consecrated their lives to the
education of Christian youth. We
know that the financial means, at the
disposal of pastors for school pur-
poses, are at times very limited. But
the laborer is worthy of his hire"
and it is only just that the teachers
of our schools receive at least such
remuneration for their services as
will enable them to provide property
for the necessaries of life. This pay
is small indeed compared with the
salaries received by teachers in other
institutions.