The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-07-21
CHARITY WORK OF
 HE MIDDLE AGES
Father Coyle Corrects Ref erences to Misdirected Work of Mediaeval
 MOnaSterieS
To the Editor of The Age Herald.

1 Mir. Barnwelis sermon on The Asso- ciated Charities" as reported in this
 mornings Age Herald. With the sermon las whole the friends and critics oi
 organized charity as administered ir
 Birmingham may deal l do not propose
 10 enter the arena in either capacity 1 l prefer to remain strictly neutral
 There is one sentence in the sermon
 however. that. in the interest of his
 torical accuracy, I feel called to com
 ment on. This I do as briefly as may be
 again asserting that my communication dealing as 1t will, with hygone ages and with lands beyond the ocean, has absolutely nothing whatever to do with the Birmingham Associated Charities lits president, Mir. Milner; it's secretary, MT. McGrath, or the youthful reporter of the morning daily paper.
 MT. Barnwell In his able and inter- esting sermon said, "The ghastly pau perism of the Middle Ages was due largely to the great and foolish gen erosity of the monasteries, where hardy peasants exchanged their sturdy inde- pendence for the bread and wine of promiscuous charity
 or course. "quod gratis assertuf gratis negatur," and l might content myself with a simple denial; but it is more courteous to bring forward some reasons for controverting the state ment. En passant, l take exception to
 the term Dark Ages used a little later I in the sermon. Modern historical re- search is showing that these ages, were, on the contrary. ages of light and learn l ing, but, revenons a nos motions.
 l Immediately prior to the Middle Ages that is. in the historical period from Constantine to Gregory the Great, the burden of charity was thrown altogeth- l CT on the church. The church was called | on to relieve not alone the distress of her own children, but of the whole pop ulation, pauperied by grasping, corrupt
 and cruel civil officials, by usurious
 money lenders, and by invading barbar- ians. The relief of the poor was the lchurch's care, and her possessions, even to the sacred vessels. were called the 1 "patrimony of the poor The bishop was assisted in his charity work in each
 diocese by the oeconomus, usually q priest, and the latter by deacons and
 subdeacons. At this period, too, xen-
 odochia, primarily establised for the re-
 
 to care for the poor, the widows and
 abandoned children, had their origin
 At this period also, the monastic system arose, and each monastery by the labor of the monks, gave the people an ex- ample of the dignity and value of work
 A large share of the products of the l industry of the monks was distrib uted l among the poor. The monasterles also supplied physicians for the sick of the
 neighborhood, hospitals for the dis
 tressed, teachers for the young, asy- l lums for the oppressed. Though the
 church could not absolutely bring about
 the abolition of the manifold social abuses of the time, she was instrumen- tai in modifying them to considerable degree. The bishops title recognized by
 the state was, father of the poor ant protector of the widows and orphans.
 During the Middle Ages, especially dur
 ing the three centuries following tht death of Charlemagne, the work of re 1 llieving the poor passed mainly to tht mona steries As Ratzinger says, "Tht energy of Christian life had gone ovel l from the diocese to the monastery. Tn, latter became the center for rich ant poor, high and low, for innocent youtl and repentant age" It provided, in som, measure substitute for the primitiv,
 Episcopal parish In every district alike l in towering mountain and in lowl. valley, arose monasteries which formed the centers of the organized religious life of the neighborhood, maintained schools provided models for agricul
 tural industry, pisciculture and for estry, sheltered the traveller, relieved the poor, reared the orphans, cared fol 1 the sick, and were hayens of refug' I for all who were weighed down b,
 spiritual or corporal misery. For cen | turies they were the centers of all re lligious, charitable and cultural activity. | The orders taking prominent part in th' work of poor relief were the Benedic tines, the Cistercians. the Praemonstra tensians, Domincans and the Francis | cans.
 l But all this will be granted, the char | itable activities of the church canno
 be denied; but the serious and oft re peated criticism of this medieval char l ity is that the churchs teaching con lcerning the meritorious character O aims giving, led to so much indiscrim 1 mate charity that more harm thai 1 good was done As the Catholic char ity of today is, as far as possible, al Iowance being made for changed con ditions, in no wise different from Cath ollie charity in the middle ages, it is i'm portant that this issue be fairly me
 and fairly answered.
 First of all. the church does teacl and did teach in every age, what he | Founder taught and what Christian au thorities in every age taught, tha charitable actions. from the proper mo ] tives, promote the spiritual welfare 0 I the giver. If in the middle ages rath CT than in the early ages this doctrin, I was stressed and more strongly incul l cated, this may be explained by tn, lesser spirit of self-sacrifice that thel obtained, by the more developed ant systematic presentation of the theors 1 and by the fuller historical accounts o l that age that we possess.
 Secondly, the assumption that tn church or any of her authoritative ex porents ever taught that almsgivins was meritorious regardless of the need of the recipient Is simply false. Com mon sense will demonstrate this. Al
 act of injury to our neiGhbor canno l merit the favor of God. But to giv' our neighbcr some charity he need rot injures him. Indeed. fair histor ians will bear out this second point
 Professor Ashley, in his English Eco homie History says: Tt is not difficul
 to adduce a long catena of passage l from the fathers and from the canon | of councils, which declare, in the mos | explicit manner, the duty of invesu gation." In this way he says Ehrle il 1 able to make a very effective reply t the congregations of Emminghaus. Hi conclusion Is, "It must be allowed tha so far as the theory of almsgiving i concerned the medieval church wa free from the fault that has been i'm Iputed to it.''
 Modern investigators are doing tard, justice to the charities and the re suits effected by the charities admin listered by the church during the mid de ages. It is being recognized tha