The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1915-05-08
M OF E R.
MOTHERS DAY, MAY 9.
written for The Catholic Bulletin by
Fenton Spence of St.
Thomas CoIieee.)

"All that | am or hope to be" said
Lincoln, after he had become Presi-
dent Il owe to my angel mother" The
testimony of other great men in &C
acknowledgement of the boundless debt
they owe to their mothers would make
record stretching from the dawn of
history to the present day. Few men,
indeed, become great who do not owe
their greatness to mothers love and
inspiration. She it is who believes in
us when the whole world loses faith
in us, who encourages us when others
have no word of cheer for u.s. The
fame that many man enjoys is really
due to self-effacing, self-sacrificing
mother. People acclaim a governor,
or mayor, or congressman, the real
secret of whose success is often tuck
ed away in the heart of quiet, unob-
trusive woman in the background, who
gave the labor of her hands without
stint for him, who infused new ambi-
ton into him when he grew discour-
aged, and supplemented his weakness
with her strength; who filled him with
her faith, her hope, her love when all
his own had failed.
1t is not the philosophers, the theor-
les, the codes of ethics acquired in
maturer years that exercise the great
est influence on man. 1t is the inn
pressions of childhood that count. It
| is the things that he learned at his
mothers knee, the principles that she
instilled into him in his very cradle,
the tastes and habits that she formed,
the strength and courage that she
breathed into him. 1t is the pennies
that mother teaches boy to save
and the self-denial that she inculcates
in doing it, that form the real foun-
dation of the fortune of the million
| aire.
When we were tossing on beds of
deadly fever and no one cared to come
near us, who held the cooling cup to
our parched lips? Who bent over us
day and night and, with almost super
human strength, snatched the darts
from the hands of death? The worlds
greatest heroine-Mother.
Many mothers in the poor working
classes freely sacrifice all that people
hold dearest in the world for their
children's sake. They impair their
health, and wear themselves out, and
make all sorts of sacrifices to send
son or daughter to school. They do
not shrink from the most mental work,
in order to give their boys and girls
the priceless opportunities that they
themselves never enjoyed; yet, how
often is their devotion requited with
indifference and even ingratitude!
Who can ever depict the tragedies
that are daily enacted in the hearts
of American mothers, the untold tor
lures they endure from the neglect of
those who should cherish them in their
heart of hearts? What pathetic stor-
les many mothers letters from her
grown-up children could tell! A few
struggling lines, few sentences hur-
riedly written and mailed-often to
ease a troubled conscience mere
apologies for letters. bringing no joy
to Tire poor mothers heart.
What movement then of recent
years deserves heartier support than
that for the establishment of ma
tional Mothers day? We should unite
in doing all we can to make it a real
Mothers Day, by honoring our moth
ers; in the flesh, those of us who are
so fortunate as to have our mothers
with us: in the spirit, those who are
not SO fortunate. If away from home,
write loving words to the best woman
that ever liyed-your mothers Send
her some flowers, some little token of
affection: better still, go and spend
the day with her, and gladden. her
heart. Show her that you are all
son should be, and that you give her
credit for all that is best in you and
in your life.
Have we been remiss in filial love
and loyalty? We can now make up
for past neglect by paying our own
mother every tribute Of honor, respect,
aftection and gratitude that grateful