The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1916-11-18
CATHOLIC SPIRIT PERsONIFIED
LIFELONG PENANcE OF THE MAN
OF MoLokAl.

OF MoLokAl.
Hawaii and things Hawaiian are
very popular in the United States-at
least for the present moment. The
fear of the Japanese peril has turned
the eyes of statesmen and of warriors
to that little group Of islands, we'll
called indeed "The Key to the Paci-
fic''. Their strategic Importance in
naval warfare is we'll recognized, and
the progress of our work on the sta
ton at Pearl Harbor is viewed with
visible satisfaction. The songs and
stories and coloring of the islands
are also coming to us from many
channels. The plaintive tones of the
ukelele can be heard in many of our
homes, and the importation of these
instruments is daily increasing. Our
libraries are being filled with books
telling of the glories of the South Sea
Paradise; on our public stage are
plays produced telling of the allure
ments of life on the archipelago.
But Hawaii, with all its earthly
beauty and earthly attractiveness, is
ever inseparable from that which
seems it's very anthithesis- Molokaf
The thought of the two-one sugges-
tive of the pleasures of the senses and
the other of the repression of the
same-go hand in hand, from Nthe
writings of Stevenson and Stoddard
to the last article of Katherine Ger
rould. It is therefore not surprising
that in a magazine devoted to the
spread of knowledge in regard to the
beauties and opportunities of the
islands we find this connection deli
cately revealed. Brother Joseph Dut-
ton, the companion of Father Damien
in his work among the lepers, writes
in an issue Of that magazine 1.-THE
Paradise of the Pacific, Volume
XVIII; No. 12) beautifully simple
little article on 'The Isles of Peace,
telling what those regions have meant
for him. incidentally do we see in
his life-story, as briefly recited there,
a vivid personification of the spirit
of Catholic, Christianity, with it's old
lesson of renewal through reparation.
In speaking of the evils and de-
structiveness of impurity, Brother Dut-
ton writes: Am ashamed to say
that may be counted as an expert
in these questions. / gave way in
1866. While on the surface osten-
sibly decent and busy, was living also
a sort of submarine life with the peo-
pie of the night until about 1880.
For over thirty-five years have been
trying to do penance. 1t required
hard fighting at first. So now | may
say there is peace with me, and wish
like happiness may be the portion of
every inhabitant of these peaceful
isles. hold. that the greatest posi-
BILE peace is peace of SOUL"
Thirty-five years of penance for
fourteen years of sin! And more still
to come. How like breath from the
Middle Ages comes this narration;
from those times of which Francis
Thompson says: There were giants
in those days." This was the great
mark of the medieval period, which
showed so intensely its Christian
character: its deep repentance for its
sins. The men of those days dashed
themselves with chains; they went
about in the most frightful forms Of
hair shirt, which grew stiffened with
their blood; and yet were unrestingly
energetic. They turned anchorites in
the English country, the English
fens, among the English fogs and
raw blasts; they exposed themselves
defenseless to all the horrors of an
English summer" (Health and Holt
ness, p. 49, And thus was penance
deeply practiced for deep SHINING all
over the continent of Europe and
wherever Christianity held sway,
So do we see the great historic
mark of Christianity. Not as hon.
lily or sermon is it mentioned here.
It is not even said that today, in our
devitalized civilization and with our
weakened physiques, that we can
literally, initiate the example Of our
forefathers. The important point is,
that Christianity teaches penance and
ever produces penance in those who
live closest to her ideals, And it is
this very thing which gives to Catho-
licism that character which proclaims
it as the only religion which can
meet the natural needs of man. For
it holds out to him, aIoof before him
in this teaching of penance, the prin-
ciple of hope and of regeneration, saw
ing him from that morbid pessimism
which has crept so insidiously into
modern life. 1t is the great social
force which brings about the true joy
and peace, of which Dutton writes,
and Of which Bishop KeppIer in his
book on More JOY tells Us. It is.
the only remedy for the black depair
which increased suicide shows u.s.
Of the present day.
n. n. of C. W.