The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1914-08-08
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS AND COL.
LEGES.

Inelf DOyS ana girls Wnen the
holidays are over. There is no ex-
cuse for parents who defraud
their children of the indispensable
blessings of Catholic education,
when those blessings are brought
to their very doors. For the pur-
pose of training in secular sub
jects, our Catholic schools and
colleges are fully equal to any
others that may be named; while
in regard to moral and religious
training there is of course no COM
parison whatsoever. Without re-
ligion there are no morals; with
out morals, no manhood, no char
acter, no grit to stand up and
hold out in the hard grim strug-
gle of life. Without religion,
family affection and reverence
very soon die out, and parents
who send their children to schools
and colleges in which religion is
ignored or despised, and morals
respected only while the master S
eye and whip are near, can blame
themselves and nobody else for
the heartbreak and the bitter dis
appointment Of the dreary years
when their unhappy children
treat them with heartless cruelty
and contempt, or carry out the
goddess creed to it's logical conclu-
sion in the ranks of the criminal
classes.
Sometimes thoughtless parents
will assign social reasons for
sending their children to non
Catholic institutions. This is the
poor wretched snobbery that is
often such a scandal to the very
folks it is: meant to flatter. All
serious non-Catholic educators
look to Catholic schools and meth
DDS to guide them in dealing with
the countless problems which edu-
cation on it's moral side presents.
What must such folk think Of the
poor snobs who turn their backs
on their own magnificent Catholic
institutions, for the sake of others
where they have not even begun to
solve the most important of edu-
cational problems The snob gets
the snub he deserves. The Catholic
boy or girl is ridiculed, sneered
at, mercilessly cut and snubbed
by the young upstairs whose
humble followers and imitators
their foolish parents want them
to be. If those silly parents only
knew the heartburns, the CALLING
insults, the suffering, they doom
their wretched offspring to in the
futile pursuit of social distinction
mere natural affection would
prompt them to rescue their chill
dren from torture. They are
guilty Of a crime like that of the
ancient pagans who sacrificed
their children on the altar of
Moloch. And it is all to no pur,
pose. The "set'' they want to
climb into freezes them out no
matter how 4" finished" their boy
and girl may be.
How different is the case Of sen.
sible parents who take pride in
our own splendid Catholic insti.
buttons. Ehe teachers in those in.
situations take the parents place
and take it well; and next to the
home of father and mother, there
is no more sacred, no sweeter spot
on earth than the College chapel
Many good men and women
holding their heads high, respect
ed by all, owe their virtue and
the success it has brought them
to word, a thought that came tc
them from heaven as they knelt
in prayer in that second holy
home of youth and innocence
The history of education contains
! nothing more touching, nothing
more impressive than the lone
| list Of statesmen, warriors, poets
philosophers, leaders in every
walk of life who made devout
pilgrimage TO the chapel of Rug
| by School, there to thank God fol
the lessons Of truthfulness, manli
ness, self-control, and fear Of Goo
which they learned from the lips
of Arnold. We have our owl
Catholic Arnolds by the score il
this country, and schools worthy
to stand comparison with Rugb.
at it's best. The alumni Of oul
schools are in the front rank O.
successful men In every walk o
| life, and men of all creeds ant
of no creed count it privileg'
and an honor to associate will
them. In our schools, too, Their
!, is real democracy of spirit; Their
is plenty of opportunity for form
ing the best and hottest of friend
, ships, that will sustain and chez
, through life's hard battle. An'
in business, in all the professions
: Catholics are strong enough t
hold their own and to help thei
own too, when the spirit of unit,
j binds them together. In tn