The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1953-10-16
Just Among Ourselves
Passing Comment Considered or Ineonsidersts

of the ballyhoo could not possibly have been writ
ten by a Catholic The line reads, Imagine Pray
ing to Our Blessed Mother and Actually Touching
Beads Containing Water from the Miraculous Spring
Created by Holy Mary" This line is not only fsul-
" expression of Catholic devotional feeling; it Is
also faulty example of Catholic language.
For we CathoIics,-at least the English-speak-
ing millions of us,-never use the phrase Holy
Mary" except in direct address. We the term
in the Litanies; we it in the second part of the
Hail Mary We use the words when we call the
Blessed Mother. We never them name when
speaking of her. We speak of her as Our
Blessed Mother, the Blessed Mother, Our Lady,
as the Mother of God, as the Blessed Virgin, and
call her bv variety of other names, such as Our
Lady of Good Counsel or OR Lady Of Victory or
Mother Of Perpetual Help, but never speak of
her in the third person Holy Mary" That Is
why we know, and know for certain that the
copy-writer who prepared the ad for the aqueous
beads is not Catholic
II is impossible or almost So for person of
culture to speak the language of another with
anything like convincing The perfect mimic"
is always far from perfect. A quick proof of the
point be had by looking at the frequent at
tempts of British writer's (eVen of keen and
clever not to say deeply learned writer GK.C)
to give = ficonal report of the conversation of
Americans. And Americans in turn. quite as
unfair and unreal in their attempts to initiate the
casual British speech.
The thing is true even of varying dialects within
country The easterner trying to impersonate mid
Westerner is as pathetic northern. citizen at
tempting to initiate the soft accents and quaint phras
ing OF the deep south Foreign accent" is not all
matter OF tones and pronunciation; 1T is also
matter OF choice OF words and phrases And this
choice is thing that becomes almost second
nature in persons brought up in certain place,
and in others who have lived there long enough
and famlary enough to acquire this second nature.
Let any others attempt imitation and they will be
instantly spotted as phonles.
our ad writer does not speak the language Of
the household OF the faith He gives himself away in
his very first utterance, as mere imitators always
do And he manages. in that same utterance TO get
the second foot into his mouth. For he mentions the
fountain at Lourdes as created by Holy Mary"
There, IN those four little words the writer gives
two distinct proofs that he is not Catholic.
For In addition to the give away OF his use OF
Holy Murg as name for Our Blessed Mother he
uses the word created instructed Catholic
would use it. To create is to make something out
of nothing. 10 produce thing In its entirety with
out any sort Of material TO work upon Now creation
is work proper 10 Almighty God. Only God can
create. 1t is true that the language of newSfepOrts
the word create in very loose way A Paris
gown is called a creation; certain concuning incl
a
is said to create a new bureau committee we
hear Of Cardinals being created. But in matters
touching religion, is doctrine devotion, we
Catholics the word Ii. its strict meaning; we
rightly aserbe creation to God alone.
The account of the appariions OF Our Blessed
Lady al Lourdes, as given in the Roman Breyiary,
tells us that the spring thch trdS already under
ground and was presently to burst forth and flow
openly, was mentioned TO st. Bernadette by the
Blessed Virgin. II was through Mary that this sign
to be given: il was by Marys intercession that
the waters of the spring TO be the instrument
of miraculous benefits to mankind, But Mary did
not create the spring, did she create It's in
strumental power
The Blessed Mother did not create the fountain
at LourdeS and no instructed Cathoc,-no Catholic
familiar with ordinary Catholic language,-would
say that she did. And thus know that the man
who wrote the eager appeal to Catholics TO buy
waery beads is not himself Catholic. You may
say, What difference does ii make The man
merely trying to sell something And, trying to sell
something OF religious nature to Catholics he
would try to talk like Catholic He failed in the
talk-snd we hope he fails in the attempt TO make
sales. But why should We whether he is
Catholic?"
Well aside from the fact that every Catholic
cares very much about people being outside the
Church, we have reasonable resentment against
outsider who pretendS 10 be OF us, and urges
what he thinks plous practice upon us merely
for the sake OF lining his own pockets We resent
the impersonation we'll as the imposition, We
do not like TO be victimzed by unworthy Catholic
in matters touching, however remotely, holy
religion; like even less TO be yictlmized in such
matters by fake Catholic.
The familiarity with characteristic speech and
function which comes of living place in eui-
ture comes from nothing else, and cannot be sue
cessfuly initiated. Only yesterday, we heard TV
announcer speaking In deep and solemn accents cal
most like Edward r. Murrow "The voice of doomO
he described the funeral service for the Green
lease child recently murdered by kldnapperS. He
explained that the service at the grave was 1.-The
Mass OF the Angels and indicated the white
plces Of clergy and acolytes symbolic Of the in
noeence of the dead child,
Why are people ready to speak of things
Catholics when they don't know the language?
They are forever at it. They recall the old story of
the tramp who stopped at Catholic rectory, sure
OF easy touch. lie told the priest he was
Catholic The priest asked him to reete the our
Father The tramp made poor fist of this assign
ment Much amused, but keeping his countenance
the priest then asked the man to say the Hail