The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1915-06-19
Continued from page ID
THE STATUS OF WOMAN.

The STATUS OF WOMAN.
the greatest of tempters, human re-
spect, lures her at every step. Well,
indeed, might she cry out with ST..
Paul, Who will deliver me from the
body of this death?' Yet this is the
world into which she must enter and
through which she must pass with a
firm, steady, undertaking step; this
is the world through which she must
pass with spotless and untarnished
name.
The Sovereign Remedy.
j Evidently a norm of life must be
established; principles must be laid
down and made know; guiding
star, like pillar of fire, must be
raised UP in the heavens to precede
her to which she may direct her eyes
and by which she may be guided on
her way. This norm of life has been
established; it is the Christian stand
ard of morals; it's principles and
maxims are laid down and made
known; they are in the Gospels; it's
guiding star has been raised up in the
heavens; it is the life of Christ,-a
light that never fails, light whose
effulgent rays illumine this world with
God-like brightness, just as His trans
figured form lit up the heights of
Thabor when His face did shine as
the sun and His garments became
white as snow"
Il am the way, the truth and the
life, and he who follows Me walketh
not in darkness" thus said the
Saviour and thus says He now. The
i age has it's ills but it also has it's
remedy. The remedy is His teach
ing, the principles and the practices
of faith. What is needed today is
a strong, steady, / would say, vio-
lent propaganda of the saving truths
of Christianity, the principles and the
practices of Catholic faith. Respect
for authority, reverence for religion,
for God, Christian chastity, modesty
and morality must be taught. They
must be taught by precept, for you
shall know the truth and the truth
shall make you free they must be
taught by example for it is not what
we know as much as what we do that
counts most in the world of morals.
The flowers of Christianity, the
feminine virtues must be cultivated.
They must grow in such profusion in
this world that their sweet perfume
surcharging the air may rise like in
cense to the skies giving to us here
below by their fragrance foretaste
of heaven. Oh, it is the duty of
woman in every condition of life to
hold fast to the angelic virtues of
her sex; it is her duty to love them
and to cherish them and to foster
them; it is her duty TO make their
beauty known to others by teaching
them to the world; but above all it is
her duty to exemplify their God-like
qualities in the purity, the innocence
, and goodness of her own daily life.
The Mission of Woman.
This, as | take it, is the duty of
woman at the present day; this, Young
Ladies, is, in a special manner, your
mission in the world. You are the
favored ones, fthe gems eIecta," the
privileged feW-the finished product of
religious training. You have been
trained in schools where secular and
religious knowledge go hand in hand;
where religious instruction is com
. mingled with daily recitation; where
whilst the mind is being stored with
useful knowledge the heart is being
strengthened in virtue; where whilst
you are fitted for duties in this life,
: you are equipped for the life that is
to come. You have been taught by
teachers whose words and deed, whose
, very life is an inspiration and a les
son. You are the flowers and the
fruit of Catholic schools-those homes
of virtue and religion: and to whom
shall we look il not to the graduates
of these schools for the models and
the type of Christian Womanhood?
The standard, therefore, by which
you are judged is high; but it can be
, attained. YOU know the means and
, the aids to help you. They are
prayer and the sacramento. Let your
petitions be made known to God by
daily and fervent prayer, and your
souls enriched with strength by a
devout and frequent reception of the
Sacramento, particularly of Confession
: and Holy Communion. With your
: hearts cleansed and purified you will
be doubly fortified to go forth on your
mission in the world-to be the
I teachers and exemplars of Christian
virtue, true daughters OF God and
ministering angels of men.
Seek the things that are above
where Christ is sitting at the right
,, hand of God" Yes, have your eyes
constantly riyeted on the Christ fore
told by the prophets and realized by
the evangelists, or as our Saviour
Himself directs you, saying: Seek VIC
first the kingdom of God and His
! Justice and all things will be added
, to YOU"
! The philosophy of life attested by
ages of experience, teaches that Gods
concerns are our concerns; that His
interests are our interests, and that
our interests thrive best when His in
Iterests are first secured. In the beau
tiful prayer of the Our Father the peti
ton for the coming of His kingdom
precedes the asking for daily bread;