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Culture an Ally of Religion
Because of the great emphasis that the Church incessantly lays upon the
supreme importance of the supernatural goods and objects of life, a
Catholic might easily be led to the conclusion that all merely natural
attainments are to be despised and neglected. Such a conclusion would
be unwarranted, as was pointed out to the present writer himself, when,
as a small boy, he protested that there was no use in learning grammar,
because one 'didn't need to know grammar to get to Heaven.' While it is
quite true that the possession of sanctifying grace and of the
supernatural virtues is of such tremendous importance that all other
things of earth pale into insignificance by comparison; while we must
admit that a rude and unlettered but upright and religious man will
fare better on the day of judgment than the educated but unprincipled
villain who passes in the eyes of the world for a refined gentleman;
while, in fine, it is undeniable that genuine virtue can exist without
the conventional graces of society, and that faultless manners do not
imply interior worth; yet it is none the less certain that culture of
mind as well as urbanity of speech are powerful allies of religion;
that virtue will show to better advantage when coupled with good
breeding; and that purely natural gifts can be supernaturalized and
made the medium of the rarest Christian virtue.
For a Christian, therefore, to set at naught the natural virtues and
secular learning is not only wrong but foolish as well. Even in God's
own dispensation, the natural is always made the basis of the
supernatural. Hence the true Christian policy is not to belittle the
natural, which is also from God, but to cherish it and exploit it, and,
by directing it towards higher ends, invest it with a supernatural
character.
I.
Value of Taste for Beauty
It is in view of
this splendid teamwork that can be done by culture when yoked with
religion, that I do not hesitate to advocate good reading in the home
first of all for the purpose of cultivating a taste for beauty. A man
may, it is true, love God with his whole heart without appreciating the
beauty of an ode by Francis Thompson, a melody by Gounod, a statue by
Michelangelo, or a painting by Raphael. But just as philosophy, which
is a natural science, deserves to be styled the handmaid of theology;
so also taste, or the ability to appreciate the beauties of nature and
art, may be made subservient to religion or to the love of God. In
other words, if theology is aided by philosophy because the object of
both these sciences is truth, of the former supernatural, of the latter
natural; then taste, whose object is natural beauty, will be a suitable
ally of the love of God, whose object is divine beauty.
Beauty of Virtue
Let me
illustrate this by a comparison. A human passion, such as anger, fear,
love, is something indifferent, that is, in itself neither good nor
bad. If anger is directed towards a proper object and kept within
proper bounds, it is something good. It helps to intensify one's hatred
of evil. Now a like effect is achieved by the capacity to appreciate
beauty. There is nothing in man more beautiful than grace and
virtue--than Charity, Faith, and Hope, than purity, humility, meekness;
than fortitude in danger, forgiveness of injuries, cheerfulness amid
suffering and pain. Hence, the more we have learned to appreciate what
is beautiful, the more can our love of virtue be intensified; for by
viewing virtue not only as something useful and obligatory but also as
something beautiful, we shall have an additional reason for loving it,
and we shall strive with greater eagerness to possess it.
As I shall devote this chapter not to a discussion of the beautiful
arts in general but only to setting forth the reasons why Catholics
should read good literature, the practical question to ask here is: How
can a taste for good literature or good reading be acquired? The answer
is: In the same way as any other taste is acquired. How does one
acquire a taste for oysters or olives? By eating them. The way to
acquire a taste for good books is by reading them.
Making Duty a Pleasure
Once a taste for
good literature has been acquired, it will be of the greatest help in
forming the habit of good reading; and hence parents cannot begin too
early to cultivate this taste in their children and thus lay the
foundation of the reading habit. To a certain extent, reading is a duty
in our day; and nothing will make the fulfilling of this duty more
agreeable than the ability to appreciate good books and well-written
articles. It is much the same with reading as with eating. Few people
would likely eat enough to preserve their health, if they had no relish
for food. And even though we eat for the honor of God, as St. Paul
exhorts us to do, it is when we have an appetite that we derive the
most beneficial results from eating. So, too, it is with mental food.
If we take pleasure in reading, we shall peruse many a useful book and
many an informing article that we should otherwise not even look at.
And even when we read from a sense of duty, we profit more by it if it
gives us pleasure as well.
Refining Effect of Good Reading
Closely akin to
good taste or refinement of mind is refinement of character; and this,
too, is furthered by good reading. The reading of good literature has
the same effect on one's character as the association with good and
wise companions. A writer's best thoughts, most noble emotions, and
finest imagery enter into a good book or good piece of literature; and
the reader's character cannot but benefit, even though unconsciously,
by coming into such intimate contact with them. The good thoughts kept
in the storehouse of the mind become, sometimes even long after the
author is forgotten, the mainspring of good deeds; the noble feelings
strike a sympathetic chord in the reader's heart and attune it to lofty
aspirations; the vivid pictures leave an indelible impress on the
imagination and thus help to preserve both the ideas and the
sentiments. Even as a handkerchief that is kept for a time in a
perfumed casket takes on a delicate fragrance, so is a man's character
sweetened by the reading of good literature. Especially is this true of
books that depict the lives of great and holy men and women; for in
such books we have in addition to the excellent thought content the
inspiring example of real human beings who were the very embodiment of
the noblest ideals.
A Splendid Recreation
Nor may we
overlook the great benefit that good reading offers merely as a source
of recreation. The ability to derive pleasure from good reading opens
up avenues of wholesome recreation that would otherwise remain forever
closed. We are so constituted that we must have relaxation of some
kind; yet as rational beings and above all as Christians we should
beware of choosing such forms of recreation as simply kill time. It is
an awful thing to waste time, each moment of which can purchase the
pearl of an eternal reward. And as we shall have to render an account
of every idle word, so we shall have to give an account also of the use
we have made of our time. Now there is no finer intellectual pastime
than reading; no more entertaining companionship than a good author. It
is true that reading always implies a certain amount of exercise of the
mental faculties, and hence work; but what rational recreation does not
require activity of one kind or another? Most of our recreations
consist essentially in a diversion; not in a change from work to
idleness, but in a change from one kind of activity to another: from
manual work to mental work or contrariwise; or even from one kind of
physical or intellectual activity to a different kind in the same
order. Thus a cobbler, who does manual labor indoors all day, finds
recreation in doing a little gardening in the evening; while a
bookkeeper or stenographer, or even a student, after doing brainwork
all day, nevertheless often recreates himself by working out crossword
puzzles or writing verses at night. Far from being an objection to
reading as a means of recreation, the mental activity implied in
reading should rather be an inducement, since it stamps reading as
recreation of a high order.
"Movies" No Substitute for Reading
A more subtle
objection to reading as a recreation is advanced in our day. So many
literary masterpieces, we are told, may now be seen represented by
moving pictures that there is no need of reading the originals, since
seeing the "movie" affords just as excellent a pastime. Whoever holds
such a view labors under a gross illusion. Even if the literary work is
only a novel--and hence one of the lowest forms of literary art,--some
of the very finest elements are totally lost when it is reproduced as a
movie; e.g.: the descriptions of character, the dialogues, the beauties
of diction, the various figures of speech, and above all the beautiful
thoughts sentiments, and images in which every truly literary work
abounds. Take a moving picture like "Fabiola," which cost an untold
amount of labor and expense and was proclaimed to be a picture of
exceptional merit. For sheer artistry it stands infinitely below
Cardinal Wiseman's great masterpiece from which it is taken. And as for
edification, educational value, interest of narrative and charm of
character, almost any three successive chapters of the book are worth
more than the entire picture. And the same is true of any literary
masterpiece. The moving picture most assuredly has its place in the
field of education as well as recreation; but it can never fill the
place occupied by literature in either of these fields.
Reading for Instruction
As far as the
religious life of the home is concerned, by far the most important aim
and fruit of reading is instruction. There are laymen who may claim
with some justice that their tastes and characters are already formed,
and that they do not need to read to improve them; but there is none
that can truthfully say that he is beyond the need of instruction. When
I speak of reading for the purpose of instruction, I do not mean solely
for the sake of learning something new, but also for the sake of
refreshing, confirming, and clarifying the knowledge we already have.
The storehouse of the mind is the memory; but in our avidity to learn
facts, and in our endeavor to acquire knowledge without taking pains,
we often stack this storehouse with things in such disorder and
confusion that we cannot find them when we want them. In other words we
forget. The knowledge really exists hidden away in the recesses of the
mind, but we are unable to recall it; or can do so only by dint of long
and hard racking of our memory. This shows the truth of the saying
that, as regards many things at least, we do not so much need to be
told as to be reminded. We must be reminded again and again until the
knowledge becomes readily available at our beck and call.
Deepening One's Religious Knowledge
It is true that
religious instruction is imparted in church and in the Catholic school;
but even supposing the most thorough Catholic schooling and the
attentive hearing of a weekly sermon, no average Catholic is beyond the
necessity of improving his knowledge of religion by frequent reading.
It stands to reason that religious knowledge acquired when the mind is
still immature is capable of increase, of widening and deepening as a
person grows older. And grown-up Catholics need a far more reasoned and
more perfect grasp of the truths of their religion; not only in order
to strengthen their Faith amid the dangers of an ungodly world, but
also in order to defend it against the attacks of non- Catholics with
whom they daily come in contact. For this reason it is important that
they be reminded of the truths of their religion not only once a week
but daily; that what their pastors tell them from the pulpit be
repeated to them in different form by laymen like themselves; that they
learn how to apply the standard of religion and the moral standards of
the Church to the changed conditions of modern life and to the new
problems that are being discussed; that examples be frequently placed
before their minds of sterling Catholic men who held Catholic
principles and fearlessly put them into practice in business, in
politics, as well as in their professional, social, and private life;
that they be kept informed of the most noteworthy local, national and
international events affecting the Church; in a word, that they be kept
abreast of the times in all important Catholic matters.
II.
The good results
and advantages derived from reading which I have here set forth, should
prove a sufficient inducement to anyone to cultivate the reading habit,
and furnish a satisfactory answer to the question why one should read.
Another question, a question of more practical importance, is: What
should we read? My answer will be twofold. We should not read what is
dangerous or injurious but what is wholesome and useful.
Drinking Filthy Water
If a doctor
would give a lecture explaining and praising the highly beneficial
effects of the frequent use of water for drinking, washing and bathing,
none of his hearers surely would understand him to speak of the use of
any but clean and pure water.
The same is to be understood of what I have said of the good effects of
reading. The water that we drink and the food that we eat do not more
truly enter into our system than what we read enters into our mind.
Should we, then, not be at least as particular about what we read as
about what we eat and drink? How fastidious many people are nowadays
about the cleanliness of their bodies! How much time and care do they
not devote to bathing; to removing blemishes; to rendering and keeping
the skin soft and smooth! And what vast sums of money do they not spend
on fine soaps and creams and powders and other cosmetics, only to keep
that corruptible body of clay sweet and clean! And yet these same
people, who would shrink with horror from drinking filthy water or from
bathing in a polluted stream, do not hesitate to read things that fill
the mind with sordid ideas, stain the imagination with filthy images
and stir up impure emotions in the heart. The mind can be soiled just
as easily as the body. As you cannot touch pitch without being defiled
by it, so neither can you avoid besoiling your mind, if you allow it to
tread the slippery paths of unclean literature.
Sugar-coated Poison
Nor is the
danger of defiling and corrupting the mind to be found only in writings
that are pronouncedly immoral or irreligious. Disease germs may prove
fatal just as well when taken into the system in wholesome food as when
received alone from contact; and poison is poison whether taken
straight or with a coating of sugar. There is a vast amount of
literature in our day,--books, magazines, newspapers,--that is more or
less infected with the germs of moral disease and the poison of
unbelief; and it is the more dangerous because the harmful matter is
contained amid a deal of harmless matter, or concealed under a false
show of humanitarianism, patriotism, equity, justice and the like. We
must not forget that all literature, in the main, breathes the spirit
of those that produce it; and as the great bulk of literature that
appears daily is the product of religiously indifferent, agnostic and
worldly minds, it quite naturally breathes the spirit of religious
indifferentism, agnosticism and worldliness; and, say what you will,
such literature is dangerous to ordinary Catholics because its spirit
is contagious.
Source of Unchristian Views
Or whence is it
that so many Catholics have decidedly unchristian and worldly views on
certain subjects? Without doubt from seeing these views expressed and
plausibly set forth, or simply assumed as self-evident, in current
non-Catholic writings. The views that Catholic young folk often
entertain in regard to marriage and courtship evidently come from this
source. Some columnist in a daily paper dispenses advice to lovers, and
it is accepted and acted on even though it runs counter to the warnings
of confessor and pastor. In like manner another writer devoid of
Christian principles descants daily on such weighty topics as
evolution, capital punishment, free will, parental authority, self-
repression, education, canons of art, the fashion, science and
religion; and from the very cocksureness of the author, his dicta are
widely accepted just as of old the answers of an oracle.
Unchristian Outlook on Life
To keep your
mind sweet and clean and to prevent the purity of your Faith from
becoming gradually defiled, I would advise you not to read the popular
non-Catholic fiction of the day--the short stories and serial stories
that appear in the daily papers and in non-Catholic magazines, as well
as most of the non- Catholic novels that have appeared in recent years.
I am far from maintaining that all this fiction is wholly bad, or that
not even now and then something will appear that is wholly above
criticism. The point I am trying to make is that most of this
literature reflects an unchristian outlook on life; that the characters
it depicts speak and act in a manner that makes this unchristian
outlook attractive; and that frequent reading of such literature, just
like intimate association with unbelievers, will by and by lead even a
Catholic to adopt something of that same outlook and, all
unconsciously, allow it to influence his actions.
Bad Company in Fiction
Indeed, in some
respects, the mental association with the unchristian and
worldly-minded characters in the secular fiction of the day is far more
dangerous, because far more intimate, than association with such
characters in real life. In real life one's contact with them is
usually limited to business affairs, social gatherings, or at the most
to private interviews; but in the world of fiction it extends often to
the characters' most secret actions and even to their most hidden
thoughts. Especially in the realistic stories of our day, there is no
sanctum whither the reader is not permitted to follow the characters.
He not only associates with them but mentally re-lives their lives,
thinks their thoughts, is imbued with their philosophy of life, stirred
by their passions, and is a secret witness of all their actions. There
is no getting away from the fact that frequent reading of such
literature must, in the long run, have a baneful effect on the reader's
mind and character. Hence whoever is in earnest about keeping his mind
and heart uncontaminated, will regard the entire field of present-day
non-Catholic fiction and popular magazines, as outside the range of his
reading.
Catholic Periodicals Superior
I admit that
this may seem unreasonable to those who have unthinkingly followed the
great crowd without observing whither they have gone and whither they
are tending. I am even willing to admit that it would be too much to
ask you to give up the non-Catholic magazines if there were nothing to
offer you in their place. But there is an abundance of Catholic
periodical literature not only equally good but better. Mind, I do not
say better from every point of view. There may be and no doubt are
points in which some Catholic periodicals are inferior; but it is
equally true that there are points in which they are decidedly
superior, chief among these points being the thought-content, tone and
spirit. And since these latter points certainly outweigh any slight
advantage that some non-Catholic periodicals may have in point of
literary finish, it may be said without hesitation that, all things
considered, present-day Catholic periodicals are better than the
non-Catholic ones.
Unhealthy Appetites
The great
trouble is that the relish for really good reading has to a great
extent disappeared; and even many supposedly practical Catholics have
got to the point where they no longer care for Catholic writings
because the latter lack the sensationalism of the non-Catholic press.
This is evident from the class of papers and magazines that these
Catholics habitually read. It is not the high-class papers and
periodicals that one finds in their homes, but such as appeal to the
less noble instincts in man. Nor is it lack of literary excellence that
they deplore in Catholic books and magazines. The stock complaint is
that they are too dry; that they lack "punch" or "pep" or whatever the
current slang word happens to be for that peculiar kind of spiciness
which they imagine to be necessary to make a work interesting. But the
fault really lies in themselves and not in Catholic literature. It is
an unhealthy appetite that is appeased only by highly seasoned food;
and such Catholics as have acquired a craving for spicy literary food
can set themselves right again only by denying themselves such food and
earnestly striving to develop a taste for more wholesome literature.
Choking the Good Seed
Deep down in his
heart, I am convinced, every sincere Catholic has a love for the better
things in literature. It is an essential part of the Catholic mind. But
in many cases this love has not been developed. Like the good seed of
the sower in the Gospel, it has been choked by the more abundant and
superficially more attractive output of worldly literature. If from
early childhood on, parents would allow their children to have only
good books and magazines, their children would develop a taste that
would endure throughout their adult life. Instead of doing that, many
parents bring such trash as the metropolitan Sunday newspapers into
their homes and themselves explain the miscalled "funnies" to their
children who are unable to read. Doubtless there are many among my
readers who have thus, without much fault of their own, become
prejudiced against Catholic reading matter. To them I say: Give
Catholic reading a fair trial. Select a number of Catholic books and
periodicals and determine to read them to the exclusion of all others
for one month. If you do that with a good will and an open mind, I feel
sure that at the end of the trial you will be so convinced of the
superior benefits derived from Catholic reading that your only regret
will be that you have been so long a stranger to that wellspring of
wholesome thought and noble inspiration.
A Parental Duty
As you are
mainly responsible, dear fathers and mothers, for the kind of taste for
reading that your children develop, let me urge upon you the duty of
providing an ample supply of Catholic magazines, books and papers in
your homes. You cannot be content with one Catholic paper or magazine;
you should have at least three or four; something of a devotional and
something of a miscellaneous character; and something, too, for every
member of the family. While many Catholic periodicals have special
departments for the young, there are excellent Catholic publications
devoted exclusively to juvenile readers, and one of these should be
taken by every family that is still blessed with youthful members. And
if the subscriptions should seem too expensive, remember that it is a
false economy to starve your children's minds while you spend more than
is necessary for the feeding and clothing of their bodies. Far better
would it be to retrench somewhat on expenditures for creature comforts
and fine clothes than to save a few dollars by failing to provide your
children with abundant and wholesome mental food. Besides, if you
discontinued taking non-Catholic papers and magazines you could easily
afford to take Catholic ones.
Good Catholic Books
While it is
highly important nowadays to read Catholic periodicals, the very best
Catholic thought is ordinarily still found in books--books that are the
product of years of study and labor; books that have stood the test of
time and have been handed down as a precious heirloom to posterity. For
a birthday or Christmas present parents cannot do better than to
present their children with a good book. Start early by giving a
picture book to the children who have not yet learned to read. And let
them be beautiful books, well-bound so that they will last; and
thoroughly wholesome and edifying, so that they will be worth
preserving. If you would make it a rule to give each child one book a
year, a very respectable family library would gradually be established
that would be a source of pleasure as well as of instruction for many
years. A great advantage of a book over a periodical is that the book
can more easily be preserved and will be read again and again; and thus
its contents finally become part and parcel of the reader's mind.
Not Only Story Books
In purchasing
books for the home or for their children, let parents not imagine that
only books of an entertaining nature are suitable. They should
occasionally make them a present also of books of a more solid
character--books of instruction on the truths of our holy religion;
books dealing with the moral problems of the present day; books of
piety and devotion that explain how even the laity can lead a life of
perfection and of closer union with Christ. There is a vast amount of
such popular religious literature in existence, and it is daily growing
more extensive. Nor is the cost such as would prevent any ordinary
family from having a goodly supply in its home. While good Catholic
story-books may also edify and indirectly also improve one's religious
knowledge, it is mainly books that deal expressly with religious and
moral subjects that are the main helps which parents should avail
themselves of to inculcate in their children the principles of truly
Catholic conduct and solid piety.
III.
The Best Place for Reading
There remains
yet one more question to answer: Where should we read? I answer, in the
home. While persons who must travel far by street-car or by train to
their place of work can profitably employ the time in reading, the home
is usually the best place in which to do one's principal reading. To be
able to read with understanding and profit and even with pleasure, a
certain amount of leisure and quiet is necessary, and this can mostly
be had at home. I speak from experience when I declare that the
presence of children does not necessarily interfere with home reading.
I was one of the three youngest children in our family, and although we
were normally noisy, our parents used to read practically every
evening. Sometimes we would be occupied with our school tasks;
sometimes we would be playing; and as years went by we usually formed
part of the reading circle ourselves. For a mother who has several
small children the problem is less easy; but the children do sleep
sometime, and then is the mother's opportunity. Can she not take up a
book or magazine while putting the baby to sleep? And could she not
even keep the children quiet by half reading half narrating a story to
them?
Why Mothers Should Read
This is one of
the main reasons why mothers should not neglect to read; namely, to be
able to instruct and entertain their children. Stories from the life of
Christ; the biographical parts of the Old Testament; the lives of the
saints afford an endless source of excellent matter for the
entertainment and education of the young, and it would be a pity if any
mother, from failure to refresh her memory by reading, would be unable
to turn this source to good account. When the children themselves are
old enough to read, it is important that the parents set them a good
example; for if the parents themselves do not read Catholic literature,
they can hardly expect their children to do so.
Supervision Necessary
This brings me
to another reason why reading should be done in the family circle. It
is a strict duty of parents to watch over the reading of their
children, and not only of the younger ones but of all that are in the
household; and such supervision cannot be exercised unless the children
do their reading where their parents can see them. As in most other
things, so also in the choice of reading matter, children of school age
are unable to decide what will be good for them, and hence their
parents must make the selection for them. But even the older children
must be watched lest they borrow or buy books or magazines the reading
of which would do them great harm. Many a wayward youth was started on
the downward path by the reading of bad literature. Hence it would be
seriously sinful negligence on the part of parents not to exercise a
careful censorship over the reading of their children.
Theodore Roosevelt's Example
Besides
exercising great vigilance to keep improper literature out of the hands
of their children, fathers and mothers should also make a free but
discreet use of their parental authority to induce their children to
read certain books or articles that are of special importance to them
and to demand an account of their perusal. A very fine practice is to
have a child read a short piece, say one of Aesop's fables, and then
give it in its own words, or to learn a few lines of poetry by heart.
The late President Theodore Roosevelt tells in one of his letters,
written while he was in the White House, that, on one occasion when his
wife was absent, he had to take her place, listen to the children
recite a poem and award them a nickel in case they knew it well. This
custom might well be imitated by Catholic parents. Even if the
pecuniary award be omitted, the children will be amply rewarded by the
benefit they derive from the practice. But they cannot be expected to
do such things of their own accord. Play has more attraction for them
than reading or learning by heart, at least until they have acquired a
taste for more intellectual pastimes.
Hence their parents should accustom them to devote some time every day
to good reading, and they will thus acquire a habit that will be to
them a source of much joy and many blessings.
The Home Reading Circle
The last reason
I wish to mention why reading should be done in the home, is that it
serves as an additional reason for staying at home and thus fosters
home life. Like family prayer, the family reading circle should be a
cherished institution in every Christian home. How happy and easy are
the hearts of those parents whose children, large and small, are
gathered with them around the library lamp, each one intent on his or
her own book, paper, or magazine. Knowing that what the children are
reading is wholesome (for they will tolerate only such reading matter
in the home) they know that they are usefully occupied; and their
hearts will not be racked with anxiety, as is often the case when the
children are absent from home.
For the same reason, parents should not allow their children to
frequent public libraries and reading rooms. Apart from the grave
danger of their reading harmful literature in such places, the practice
also tends to disrupt home life. The home is the proper place for the
children to read as well as for the principal reading of all the
members of the family. When one member of the family is at the theatre,
another at his club, a third and a fourth out joy-riding, it is quite
natural that the others (if there be any) w ill be tempted to neglect
their reading also and seek amusement elsewhere than in the home. It
were well, therefore, if several evenings a week were set aside
especially for the home reading circle, so that at least on these
evenings each one would profit by the presence and good example of the
others.
Preserving Old Books
And let me say a
word in favor of keeping old books in the family and handing them down
from generation to generation. Many a one who gave away his picture
books, scrap-books and nursery rhymes when he grew up, has later
regretted that he no longer possessed those books for the entertainment
of his own children. So I say, let the books remain in the family, and
let each one take his or her books along when the children leave their
parents to found new homes. The books would sometimes need to be bound
anew; but it would be an added delight for the little ones to know that
their father of mother had paged the same books in their childhood; and
the parents or grandparents themselves would undoubtedly find great
pleasure in viewing again with the little tots the selfsame picture
books and illustrated nursery tales that charmed them when they were
small.
Yes, how we were charmed by beautiful stories, beautiful pictures,
beautiful toys when we were small! Then the whole world seemed
beautiful. But how drab, how commonplace it appears to us now. How full
of evils it is, and how deeply do we deplore our powerlessness to do
away with them.
A Paradise of Books
Yet there is a
world from which we can banish all these evils-- the world of books. Or
rather, by cautious elimination and judicious selection from the
plentiful material on hand, we can fashion for ourselves a little
world, aye, a little paradise of books in our own homes. And thither we
can repair daily to enjoy its pure and bracing air, its lovely change
of scene and the delightful companionship of its distinguished men and
women. Happy we if we have builded for ourselves such a literary garden
of Eden and habituate ourselves, like our first parents, to walk
therein with God. We cannot, it is true, see His face or hear the sound
of His voice; yet He will oftentimes speak to us none the less
distinctly through the medium of the printed page;--raising our
thoughts above the petty affairs of daily life, broadening our outlook,
correcting our views, calming our fears,--in a word, throwing a glow of
Heaven's light and peace on the things of earth, and thus heartening us
with brighter visions to take up anew the tedious tasks of this
workaday world.
Continue:
Introduction
Chapter I: Necessity of
Religion in the Home
Chapter II: Prayer in the Home
Chapter III: Catholic
Atmosphere in the Home
Chapter IV: Good Reading in the Home
Chapter V: Harmony in the Home
Chapter VI: Necessity of Home
Life
Conclusion
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