The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-09-08
Religion and Morality
 In School Life
Continued from Page 1.o

it ?'' they must be silent. This is the province of religion as taught by the Church. It is her duty to preach the Gospel everywhere:-in the 1owliest chapel as in the loftiest cathedral; in the matched cabin as also in the School-roOn.
 Knowing mans destiny, the Church keeps it always before him and pos sessing the means which enable him to attain it, she bestows them upon him; and among them is religious education. Not from books, the off spring of human genius, is man to learn the great lesson of life and re- Iigion but from Jesus Christ. Learn from me- T am the way, the truth and the life To Him must we go for instruction, for without Him man is a. creature destitute of power for good. Without me you can do nothing
 Take God out of our system of edu- cation and it lacks, it's fundamental principle; for God, being infinite intel ligence, is the sum-totaI of all knowl- edge. Therefore He should be the object of the mind and heart in their yearnings and strivings after the true, the good and the beautiful. Relig ion, however, does not consist in the mere knowledge of abstract principles; nor in the perfunctory practices of piety. Religion as taught in the school, is something more subtle, more intimate, more all-pervading. It per
  and all places. It is reflected from the textbooks. The teachers personal fty inspires it. The children feel it and drink it in through every faculty of mind and heart and body.
 VIRTUE.
 Besides religion the school teaches sound morals. There can be no di- vorce between religion and morality. Human genius has never yet invent ed a system of ethics that can compel a man to do good and keep him good whether it be a sense of law or hon or; pleasure or profit or any other expediency. These are but natural motives and In consequence are weak and shifting. Without the sanctions of religion, man has nothing within him to check the rebellious uprisings of human nature. It is the lesson of experience, that an intellectual man, who at the same time is an unrehgious man, can be 8 mighty agent of evil to himself and society. This is aptly illustrated by the mu1titudes of edu- cated criminals in our prisons, as al- so by the French Revolution. Its leaders were men of commanding ge- nfus and fine literary culture; but their hearts were as corrupt as charnel house and as dark as the Stygian Pool. Robespierre, it's great est leader, before his own head came under the gleaming knife of the guillo- tine, proclaimed to the crowd that was shouting for his blood,-the Republic can be established only upon the etern- al basis of morality Had he mould ed his career upon that truth the blackest event in French annals would not have been chronicled.
 'eThe parochial school stands as the champion of. faith and justice stands monumentally as a witness to the love of Mother Church for the souls of her children; and to her determina- ton that no system of education can be approved by her, save that alone which is imparted under the inf1u- ence of Christian pedagogy.
 Wherefore, it is the will of the Church that her children should be creatures of religious impulses and moral convictions; that they should be environed by religious influences; that they should receive the instruction Of doctrine and judgment; justice and equity. They must be taught obed-, fence to lawful authority; respect for the sacredness of life and property and reputation. She insists upon faithful, compliance with their three fold duty to themselves, to their | neighbor and to God. In fine, she wishes them to acquire a, love and 1 veneration for their religion; to be | faithful adherents of the Church; for l it is the testimony of experience that the better Catholics they are the bet ter citizens they will be- Loyalty to | the Church means loyalty to the state. The battlefelds of this country bear witness to this truth.
 COOPERATION.
 ''It remains with us to cooperate with the priests of the Church in bringing to a still higher degree of | perfection-the system that obtains in our schools. Our sympathy and good will should find practical expression in many ways, but in especial, by the of our children. The splendid returns your children will | make will more than comp pensate you for the sacrifice you will make You will experience happiness from the | thought that obedience reigns in your hearts. With the chil- i dren of Israel can you say: All things that the Lord hath spoken we will 1 do, we will be obedient.' ''