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dained minister of Christ must at the outset be prepared to assume such relation.

This preparation in so far as it concerns the seminary, consists first of all in the formation of a state of mind. The years of preparation are not intended merely to afford an opportunity of learning certain truths and solving certain scholastic problems, but they are required in order that the candidate for Holy Orders may be moulded and fashioned after the most exalted human type. The resultant state of mind is one in accordance with the means employed to form it; and those means are the expression of all that is best in the Catholic conception of mental and moral development. It is therefore only natural that the Catholic priest should be the highest exponent of the worth of educational forces, that his interest in the agencies that have helped to make him what he is should be most keen, his devotion to them most intense.

Normally the young man will leave the halls of the seminary with a deep-rooted esteem for his studies; he manifests an eagerness to continue his labors and seeks guidance concerning the course he would best adopt. He knows, too, that their worth is not for him alone; that in due measure they are necessary for all, if his labor of salvation is to be fruitful among the people. The true understanding of education has been brought home to him consciously or unconsciously; and while he might not be able to pen the article, still he has made his own ideas such as are expressed in Dr. Pace's luminous article on Catholic education (Cath. Ency., Vol. 5.). He wishes to be no obscurantist, he is conscious of his commission to go and teach, and he understands that such a trust implies the right on the part of all the people to know and to be instructed. While it is primarily his duty to inculcate the truths of faith, it is not possible for him to make that teaching effective unless the ground is duly

prepared for the seed that is to spring up to eternal life. Knowing this, he values justly the importance and dignity of proper educational work; he sees how indispensable it is for the expansion of the kingdom of God, and he recognizes moreover how serious are the obstacles placed in his way if a false system of training is allowed to prevail. He, least of all, will tolerate a divorce between intellectual and moral instruction; he knows that religion alone can provide a sound basis for any solid morality; and with his conviction that education is meant to be the great civilizing force, he is ready to proclaim, even though inexperienced, that no real civis can be formed, no real social organization can subsist, if aught save the principles underlying Catholic education serve as the guiding star for a nation's leaders.

All this is fundamental, but it is a positive element, a dynamic element, and so indispensable that all else is useless without it. Our young priest may not be wholly au courant with particular phases of the problem he is to face, but at the same time he can hardly be presumed to be in complete ignorance of actual issues. The majority of our seminarians will not leave their Alma Mater without a general knowledge of the history of Catholic education in latter days, they may be more or less conversant with the particular struggles that have marked the course of the last century, and above all they may be in no need of conviction of the utter inadequacy of our own public school system to fit our fellow Americans to be what the God of nations expects them to be. Such, then, is the first contribution of the seminary to the equipment of our young priest to begin his labors in the cause of Catholic education. He will go forth endowed with a state of mind that is admirably adapted to the successful prosecution of such an undertaking, and that endowment is the normal resultant of his seminary training. The picture is not too great a departure from reality; there

are exceptions, no doubt, and comparatively few may express a liking for the professorial chair. Yet such a state of mind can reasonably be expected to characterize by far the greater number of those we send forth to continue the mission of the greatest of all Teachers.

If there is room for improvement in this respect, it is to be secured by a more earnest endeavor on our part to foster habits of study among those entrusted to our care, and to make use of the excellent means suggested by the gentlemen participating in the discussion on this topic. during the Convention at Cincinnati. A reference to the full report of that meeting will provide us with such suggestions as may be serviceable.

It is not my place to try to enumerate a list of the burning issues now agitating the minds of educators. We can at the present only suggest some general means by which the seminarians may, during their preparatory career, be made fully acquainted with the particular problems with which they will have to deal. Before mentioning these means in detail I wish to give expression to the conviction that it is not practicable to add anything more to the curriculum with a view of preparing our students distinctively for educational work. Indeed, what could be added, unless a course in pedagogy or catechetical instruction? The former is attended with so many difficulties as to verge upon the impossible, and the latter though introduced in one form or another, has but an indirect bearing on our subject in the sense in which I have presented it. However, I do not wish to be understood as advocating a negative or repressive policy in the matter, and therefore I think I may call attention to the following means or opportunities of securing a livelier interest in the general subject of education among our seminarians.

I. In every institution for the education of the clergy there is a course in pastoral theology, intended to

give practical suggestions concerning the various features of priestly work. In such a course the subject of education and school work can scarcely be disregarded. Now, it seems that a goodly portion of a year's work can be devoted to the subject, and an experienced professor should be able to impress upon his class the importance of such work in the ministry and provide the means of becoming acquainted with the actual conditions confronting us at the present time. Particularly will it be possible in such a course to impart such general guiding principles as will enable the future pastor to guard against many mistakes in dealing with the special phase of the problem that he will meet when beginning his work. The relation of priest to pupils and to teachers can be dwelt upon in a general way, and the matter of coordination and method can be treated with sufficient fullness to insure the desirable degree of uniformity. No professor worthy of the name will fail to offer the best that he has to encourage and direct those placed under his guidance in this branch. If he be a man of practical experience in parish and school work-a quality eminently desirable-he will give his class the benefit of his own labors, and will in a large measure contribute to the formation of a state of mind and of will calculated to produce most gratifying results in the educational field. Is there not room for improvement in this department of our work? Are other topics of such greater importance that this one should be unmercifully sacrificed?

II. It is the custom, I presume, in most seminaries to give lectures or conferences to the students on subjects pertaining to their spiritual advancement and to the character of the work they are to undertake. Here, then, it would seem, is another opportunity for emphasizing the importance of educational work in the sacred ministry. A well regulated and methodical course of conferences every year or two would not fail to be productive of re

Isults that would blossom forth in the fulness of their beauty and worth during the years that follow the years of theological study. The five or six years which occupy the attention of the ordinary seminarian afford ample opportunity for the consideration of such a subject. Thought and energy will be necessary to make such conferences forcible and interesting, but it is not too much to ask of any one heartily devoted to the work of forming competent laborers in the cause of religion.

III. It is recommended by many of wide and thoughtful experience that the professors should frequently mingle with their students during the hours of recreation. Aloofness on their part is considerad to be productive of more harm than good. Whatever may be one's personal opinion, it would seem that if there is to be such association during free hours, no more commendable subject for conversation could be suggested than the work and practical issues of education. At such a time there is an absence of restraint, and consequently a better opportunity for the communication of ideas and views on this topic, views which cannot fail to be deeply interesting to our young men, especially if the conversation be directed to some actual question or event that is engaging the attention of men who are devoting their energies to the development of educational work.

IV. No one can gainsay the influence of magazines and newspapers. In one sense their share in shaping the opinions of men is out of all proportion. Yet, there are good magazines and good newspapers and there are some that manifest a most commendable interest and sound practical judgment in matters pertaining to our subject. Should we not encourage those entrusted to us to make all lawful use of publications? Can it possibly be objected that the recent regulations from Rome would interfere with such a plan? I think not, and I would bespeak a keener appreciation for reviews and papers that

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