The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1922-03-11

George Harrison passed to the other
world, into the presence OF God. The
grief stricken widow was dumb with
sorrow. How different the end might
have been had her husband been
brought up under Catholic influence
instead of in the atmosphere of Fin
ston, which sapped from his soul the
faith for which his ancestors had SUI
fered.
Mrs. Harrison's story was a sad
one. As a child, Kathleen Collins had
been trained at st. Genevieye's acad-
envy, Rose Bay, conducted by the Sis
ters, of whom she grew very fond.
Her school days We're happy ones. the
happiest of her life. The nuns were,
of course, cultured and refined, and
the school, thoroughly efficient in sec
ular education, was permeated by a
spiritual atmosphere that uplifted
Kathleen, and gave a spiritual, color
and tone to each moment of her life
After graduation came a struggle,
but Kathleen chung TO the main re-
ligious practices of her school days
Society and the world made their APP
peal, but she weighed them in the
balance and found them wanting. Her
parents, Catholics of Irish descent,
had accumulated a large amount of
this worlds goods, and were deter
mined to advance their daughter So
cially. However, though the world
glittered and glistened, it did not fas-
cinate Kathleen; though she shared
in its gaieties and pleasures, much to
her mothers regret Kathleen did not
lose her hand or heart in the. swirl
of social events. At considerable sac
rifice OF personal comfort. she kept
faithful to daily Mass and frequent
Communion, even during the busy So
cial season. This, it must be confess
ed, required a good deal of moral
strength, as there was no encourage
nlent at home-either by word or ex-
ample; in fact, there was a silent but
none the less obvious disapproval.
Mr. and Mrs. Collins were, of course,
Catholics, and would have vigorously
resented any suggestion that they
were not as loyal and true to their
faith as their parents. who had mar
ried in Galway and had come over to
this country in the days of the fam,
inc.
Mrs. Collins watched her daughter
closely and anXiously. She rather
disapproved of her visits to Sister
Raphael at Rose Bay, but as yet had
not forbidden them. Convent influ-
ences and nuns training, she thought,
We're good things for very young chill
dren; no one could better prepare the
little ones for their First Communion;
but she maintained that it was better
for growing girls, especially in their
finishing years, to be subjected to the
refining influences of our better class
schools. and by better class, Mrs. Col
Inns always meant the moneyed class
Kathleen, as it seemed to her mother.
had unfortunately been deprived of
this advantage, for old Mrs. Flaherty.
Mrs. Collins mother, had vigorously
insisted that her grandchild should
finish at st. Genevieve,s, and not at
the fashionable Bassir. AS Mrs. Fla
herty had a respectable sum saved
up in the bank for rainy day, and
this, it was understood, was to come
to Kathleen at her death, Mrs. Col
Inns prudently and reluctantly yielded
an@this point to the old lady's wishes.
But now, Mrs. Flaherty had passed
to her reward, the money was safe
in Kathleen's name, and the coast
was clear for the mothers social am
billions.
Mrs. Collins was vigorous in her
disapproval Of too much religion in:
a young girls life. Her idea of relig-
ion was that IL consisted Of certain
obligatory practices. such as Mass on
Sundays. usually the shortest, and an