The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1919-04-26
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
coMMENDs "THE UPPER ROOM"

architect of the new churches of st.
Luke and st. Mark in this city. He is
an authority on ecclesiastical art.-Ed.
note).
Pittsburgh, Pa.
To the Editor:
One Of the encouraging signs of
the progress of Catholic education in
| the United States may be observed
in the gradual development and re-
Mobilization of Catholic art This art
revival can be noticed in various
parts of the country, including the
Diocese of ST Paul. Progress is
/ manifested not only in the field of the
| plastic and pictorial arts, but also in
| that OF the idrama.s
| The writer had the great pleasure
of attending the first performance Of
| this season Of Mgr. Benson's Passion
Play, THE Upper Room" in the
Knights of Columbus auditorium, St.
Paul. To say that he was deeply
moved by the thoughtful and reverent
| portrayal of the greatest drama of the
world, would be undertaking his I'M
pressions. This play, written by a
| Catholic artist and churchman, grips
| the spectator and arouses his emo
lions as no sermon is able to do.
Tears of sorrow and compassion come
unsought. More than this, the re-
ligious atmosphere of the play was so
convincing, the actors were so Sc
riOus in their work, and the text so
beautiful, that the spectator found
himself making resolutions to follow
more obediently in the footsteps OF
| the Master. These are the exact inn
pressions that the author, the play
ers and the director intended to con-
ivey. All true Catholic art aims to
arouse religious emotions through the
various senses, and in the great bat
tie for Christ the Church needs every
channel of influence to sanctify the
soul, to save it from the pitfalls that
seem to grow more numerous and
| deeper from day to day
Thoughtful men everywhere, and
| even the man on the street, feel that
there is something radically wrong
with the present world and society,
and that possibly both are on the
| brink Of an epochal cataclysm. The
gradual letting down of the bars of
| modesty and decency in literature, art
and the drama, not to mention the eI-
IRENE fashions in dress, and the pas
sion for frivolous pleasure, indicate
that the old ideas Of right and wrong
are becoming more haZy, and in many
circles, even those of higher learning,
have been obliterated entirely.
| Ralph Adams Cram, in his latest
| book, The Sins of the Fathers" de-
scribes the modern root-evils as I'M
perialism, Materialism and the Guam
titative Standard, which he clearly
shows originated after the Reforma-
ton, the Renaissance and French
Revolution. Although not a Catholic,
the author admits frankly that the
only hope of the world lies in the re-
turn to the sacramento system of the
Catholic Church. Another write,
after wildly describing present cha
otto moral conditions, lays stress OIL
the necessity of a great religious re-
vival to be engineered by titanic
minds who are to devise and run a
huge mechanism to bring the world
back to religious standards. 1t is pitt
full to behold all sorts of mechanistic,
and socialistic schemes invented to
Ire-create human society. We know
for a certainty that the Catholic
Church has the only remedy for this
moral sickness, and that the essence
of religion is found in the sacrifice of
Calvary and it's daily renewal on the
affairs in the sacrifice of the Mass.
What the world needs is simple and
humble men, who, like St. Francis of
Assist will go about the country
preaching the message of Christ and
the story of His love which culminat-
ed in the sacrifice on Calvary.
The Passion Play produced under
the auspices of the parish of st. Luke,
and under the very able direction Of
Miss Kellett, contributes nightly to
this missionary enterprise. Instead
, of an audience of five hundred, at least
two thousand people should see each
performance. l hope the day will
: soon come, when not only this excel
lent and soul-stirring drama, but other
f religious and mystery plays, such az
, were developed by, the Church in p!:St
l ages, will be produced to capacity au
Y diences in the st. Paul Auditorium.
: Very respectfully yours,
/ JOHN T. COMES.