The Irish standard., 1918-09-07
DECLINE OF PROFANITY
A Growing Spirit Of Reverence For
Higher Things, Says Maurice
Francis Egan.

WrltlnS IN the. holy Name AdvO-
cate of Philadelphia, Maurice Francis
Egan says:
For nearly eleven years l have
been exiled, to very pleasant coun-
try, It's true, from my native land,
and coming back, / noticed enormous
changes, and one of the most marked
is the growing spirit of reverence for
higher things. A sign of this, which
l am happy to record, is the disap-
=, pearance of what in older days might
have been called the fine art of
swearing. There was time when
many Americans ripped out oaths
almost unconsciously; but one sell
dom hears in any society of men or
| even in the streets, the blasphemy
that used to make a reverent Cath
olic shudder.
Among Catholics, not of the Latin
races Tin whose language certain
oaths seemed to be imbedded) the
practice of swearing by the Sacred
| Name seems almost to have disap-
peared.
In Europe, among the people who
really count, one never hears an
oath, and as a corollary, the risque
story, which formerly occupied much
attention among men after dinner
| party, is looked on as in bad taste.
l have always greatly admired the
phrase put up very visibly at the
Gridiron Club dinners-'The Ladies
Are Always With U.s."
A more useless, a more offensive
habit-leaving out the question of
morality, than that of swearing by the
Holy Name probably never existed.
For the non Christian it means a gra-
tuitous insult to the convictions of
nearly every man around him, and
even direct and insulting challenge
to his Unknown God. For the Chris
tan, who is conscious of what he
| says, it is ineXplicable. 1t is worse
than the insulting of ones father
| with blow. Of him, Forgive them,
| Father, for they know not what they
DO cannot be said. A man capable
OF voluntarily using the Holy Name in
blasphemy shows to the world that
he is almost willing to commit the
crime Of Judas.
Bad taste and bad morals have
Il
as we all know, to shock the sympa-
thies OF the faith of those about us.
When Cardinal Newman said that the
first quality of gentleman, wheth-
er Christian Or pagan, was not to
give pain, he laid down a principle
which is thoroughly consistent with
the practice of Christianity, when no
great principle is involved; but
when oaths are spoken and BIAS
phemy uttered, sometimes very light
ly, In the presence of little children,
the human being who does this falls
UNNECESSARILY below even the pagan
standard Of gentlemanhood; and we
know what Christ Himself has said
to those who give scandal to the lit
tie ones.
1t seems to me. speaking with all
due Difference to the superior knowl-
edge of those who know present
American conditions better than I,
that this great change-this remark
able improvement in our reverential
attitudes due to the more frequent
reception of the Holy Eucharist.
In Denmark, in Copenhagen, where
there was scarcely Catholic left af-
ter the Reformation, the aspect of
the Church of st. Ansgar, where the
diplomats of nearly all nations meet,
during these terrible days, receive
Holy Communion frequently-more
frequently than before the sword of
horror hung over them-one sees
how quickly the spirit of reverence
is growing. The experience of long
life shows me that the two keys to
the problem of this life are reverence
for the Holy Name, inwardly and out
wardly, and the frequent reception of
the Sacrament of the Altar.
The wit and wisdom Of momhoro NJ