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During this penitential season oi Lent the Church draws the atten-
tion oi her children in a special manner to the Passion oi Christ. At
the loot oi His Cross she broods over His Death. as a beloved might
brood over the memory of her battle-scarred lover. She counts each
wound and lingers over each bruise received in her behalf. ior they
are the marks oi her Bridegroom‘s heroism. As the culmination oi His
suiierings was had in His Death upon the Cross. the Cross may be
considered as the epitome‘oi the Passion. So that all Christian eyes
are iocused now upon the stark iigure oi Christ upon His Cross with
its mute but iorceiul appeal to sensitive hearts.
One at the most eloquent speeches ever penned by Shakespeare.
the wizard oi the human souL is placed upon the lips oi Mark Antony.
As that zealous partisan oi Caesar stood over the mortal remains oi
his murdered iriend. he exclaimed: ‘'I only speak right on: I tell you
that which you yourselves do know: show you sweet Caesar's wounds.
poor. poor dumb mouths. and bid them speak ior me."l
It is not my part to dwell on the awiul incidents oi the scourging
d crowning which make up the background oi the Cross. The elo-
quence of the wounds oi Christ beggars words. and as a Partisan oi
lesus l can only bid them speak ior me. and plead ior the solace oi
your atoning love. It would seem that these scenes were best realized
in silent. prayeriul meditation. For there are thoughts that too oiten lie
too deep ior tears. and it too deep ior tears. surely too deep ior human
words. But the appealing voice of the dying Christ seems to burn so
deeply into our souls in the Lenten consciousness oi our guilt.
And that Man is the Lamb oi God. the willing. innocent Victim
stretched’ upon the altar oi wood and iron to pay the price oi the
inhnite debt incurred by the sins oi others. His Cross. then. is the
emblem oi redemptive love. For Christ endured to die in slow unuttered
weariness oi pain that we might have life. To some the Cross is hope.
and they embrace the bitter wood to End its burden is a heavenly
shsoi oi reaped lays. To others the Cross is ever a dread symbol that
yields only shadows. and as they shrink irom it they are deal to the
words oi Christ: "It thou wouldst come alter me. take up thy cross and
iollow Me.” So it is. that to walk with Christ is to bear a cross. ior
that is the condition oi His companionship. Since every iollower must
carry a cross. he may cry against it ‘til Heaven's great ear is deal. but
he must bear it. and bear it alone. and he that ilees his cross is
crushed in the iall oi what he casts away.
In contemplating the Cross men in high places have tell the
finality and austerity oi Christ's dealing with the unbearable human
problem ol seliishness and greed and hate; soldiers have claimed as
iellow suiierer One Who. scorning “anyvdeath less poignant than
another's" partook oi the uttermost oi human miseries. Sell-sacriiicing
tedchers and leaders oi the multitudes see in the Cross the supreme
educational act oi all time: public offcials baiiled by the stupidity and
blind inertia oi peoples who make tardy response to ideas oi an ampler
social order. End in Him One Who was baiiled. too. and in ‘His last
resource oi outpoured love. the Cross. they discover the consolation
meant ior all those who suiier ior a humanity which shall some day ‘
walk by the lamp oi the spirit and the eye oi Faith.
The cross must be distinguished irom'the totality oi human suitor-
ing. ior it would seem,thot not all pain. not all loss constitutes a cross.
What then is the cross? The cross in any iield and in all times and
places: is redemptive suiiering. and is generally marked by two
characteristics-it is voluntary and it is ior others. True. there are
great numbers who. like Simon Cyrene. are draited into the world‘s
travail. and participating in the purpose oi Christ in redeeming men
Fnd women. learn to know and embrace the cross with love.
In the sell-dedication oi men and women today is iound the reflec-
tion ol the bloody gibbet of Christ. The Cross iniluences us by the
power oi its divine example to a higher mood oi thought and liie. it
educates us in portraying a drama all can understand-the hideous-
ness oi seliishness and greed and lust. and the supreme lengths to
which love will go. it is the summary oi the Passion. and its eloquence
is expressed in the words:
he lay down his liie ior
into greater courage in the lace oi our own little suilerings. lt wins us
hy.lts patient endurance to a spiritual irame oi mind in bearing our
cross. It stimulates our wills by the imperative sell-evidencing argu-
ment that here indeed is the supreme resource oi'God and mm: with
which to win a williul human race prone to seliish interests. to a life
lived aiter the pattern oi His Divine courage and love. Thus the gaunt
iigure with His Cross Who has reigned over the world ior twenty cen-
turies persuades. shames. educates and redeems-and beckons us to
iollow.
Need l remind you that these are dark days? Today men ieel that
the shadow oi a cross lies athwart the iairest land that God ever
smiled upon. Wise in our own conceits. we have disregarded the
iundamental l ns oi the wisdom oi the Cross.
‘'01 patient. silent Christ. wasted with suilering. won with scourg-
inq. strong beyond lpeech and wonderiul with woe. behold] penitsnt
tears have stilled our thoughtless laughter. Chostsned now by imposed
suiisring we take up our iergotten cross. and iollow aitsr. O Christi-
aiter Thee.”
MEN of MALVERN
With ’ February Retreats
In Sails High Alumni
Brother David, Captain
The first of the February Re-
treats, February 2, will be an
entirely new group for Malvern
-Ls Sslle High School Alumni.
Board member T. Walter Mc-
Grath is responsible for inter-
esting this coterie oi the
younger generation, and it is
his high hope that they shall
be the nucleus of a band of
Catholic leaders who will be-
come imbued with the true Mal-
vem Spirit that shall guarantee
the future of St. Joseph’s-in-
the-Hills.
s
Camden Group
E. J. Inglesby, Captain
Although not entirely new to
ltislvern, -the group of Febru-
ary 9 is taking its first step
as a single unit. It is made up
of many Men of Malvern from
Camden, N. J., and its suburbs,
and will be headed by Edward J.
Inglesby, Esq., of Merchant.-
ville.
Some of the stalwarts who
are active in the new venture
are Jack Reiners, Bill Cahill,
Gene Mariano and a number of
others who are desirous of
spreading the Retreat idea
among their fellows. Such zeal
is to be highly commended and
we can hope to see unusually
pleasing results crown the ef-
forts of these Catholic leaders
in our neighboring city of the
Camden Diocese.
I U
Philadelphia Electric
5. Fraud Barrett, Captain
The Philadelphia Electric
Group is again scheduled to go
to Malvern over the week-end
of February 16. This time s new
Captain shall lead them in the
person of S. Frank Barrett, who
was such sn able Associate to
former Captain Frank X. Men-
ville. Mr. Monville hopes to be
well enough to make the" Re-
treat, and we all hope to see
him-there completely recovered
‘from his illness.
This shall be the fifth annual
visit of this group which was
organized by John Foster,
now serving in the armed forces,
and Captain Barrett looks for
an attendance that will come
close to, if not-. exceed, 150 men.
3 O I
Northeast Catholic Alumni
Francis J. Krebs, Captain
The Northeast Catholic High
School Alumni is scheduled to
make its sixth annual visit to
St. Joseph's-in-the-Hills on Feb-
ruary 23, when those still out-
side the armed forces will
gather to pray for the success
and safe return of their fellows.
xThis year Francis G. Krebs
will be the Captain in charge of
the group, his three immediate
predecessors having been called
to the Colors. Although the
prospects among the alumni are
so comparatively few, Frank
hopes to better the record estab-
lished last year when 100 men
were present. One means of at-
taining this end is the soliciting
of the fathers and brothers of
the young men now serving
overseas, urging them to make
the Retreat: for the absent: one.
Wounded in Action
Lt. Joseph J. King, active
with the Six-Three and West
Catholic Groups, and ‘attached
to the Combat Engineers with
General Patton's Third Army,
was seriously wounded last De-
cember 18. He is now in s hos-
pital in France. Please pray
for his speedy recovery.
Long Distance Guests
Those traveling the longest
distance to attend our annual
dinner were Captains Yundt,
Ricspito, Detrixhe, McCarty
and Fink who came from Allen-
town. and Bethlehem to repre-
sent the Lehigh Valley Group.
First Retreat
M ,.
Pltlllp
A. Barsfte. D.D.S.. who eilends St. James Church. Vent-
anl of 1945
nor. City. N. J.. was the New Year’: first reireatent. He as
here shown as he paused for a
moment before the statue of
St. Joseph. Patron of Men. in St. Mary's Hall. It was his first
Retreat. He was recruited by Dr. Albert Di Leuro, Associate
Certain with H. Eugene Hein
e's Group. The doctor’; son.
Air 'Hero of Malvern
Lieui. Tony Guide
Lieut. Anthony J. Guida, of
John Neeson’s Group, enlisted
in the United States Army Re-
serve in 1934. He was called for
active duty in 1941, when he re-,
ceived a commission as se'cond
lieutenant and assigned to the
Air Corps. He was commis-
sioned a first lieutenant in Feb-
ruary, 1943, attended a dying
school and served with a sub-
marine‘ patrol together with
other maneuvers.
Anthony was sent‘. overseas in
October, 1943, going to the S010-
mon Islands and then to New
Guinea as a navigator and bam-
bardier on a B-25. He completed
54 missions for a total of 475
combat hours. His heroic serv-
ice in five campaigns won for
him the Air Medal and five clus-
ters.
He arrived home on Christ-
mas Eve for a short leave
"without a Christmas present."
Member of the Big Brothers
Association since 1929, Anthony
hastened to Malvern to make
another Retreat, his tenth in ten
years, despite his three and one-
half years in the service.
There are four brothers in the
armed forces. Pfc. Angelo is
with an overseas anti-aircraft
division. Pfc. Louis is overseas
with an infantrry division. Petty
Oliicer George is a Navy in-
structor.
Mrs. Martha Robinson
We join the members of the
Palm Sunday Group in extend-
ing our sincere sympathy to
Thomas J. Robinson whose be-
loved mother, Mrs. Martha Roba
inson, recently’ passed to her
eternal reward. Interment was
in ‘Holy Cross Cemetery. May
she rest in peace! I
Surviving Mrs. Robinson, be-
sides Tom, are two sisters, Miss
Retts Croft and Mother Mary
Pasqusline, Third Order of St.
Francis; a brother, Joseph
Croft, and a daughter, Mrs.
Mary P. Scholl. A grandson,
William J. Scholl, III, has just
joined the Navy and is stationed
at Sampson, N. Y.
Charles Costello
Regretfully we report the
passing on Christmas morning
of Charles Costello, Sr., beloved
father of Retreatsnt Charles
Costello, who is serving with
the armed forces in the South
Phi Jr.. also was present. Pacific. May he rest in peace!
MEN or MALVERN i. published monthly by ab. v.....e..'. w..1.E..a rm... 1...... .. rm Am. Stress, Philsdrlphis 3. PI. 'r.1.,.h....-,
am...l....... 71723171. sn. 1...... w. Gibbons. D.D., Rerrur Manet ...d Rector; John J. s..11i...., Pmidsnr; wi1u.... Lennor, cm...
can 3... ...id...: ...s Advertising Director; Jueph A 14...... Treasurer; 1...... Daugherty, cre ....g E. H
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y em: on yr; :1 csnu; mm years-one dollsr. Single (orpIee+ . mm. Artiries ior public-sriorn ......r be ...i: 1.. die
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....s..- the An oi Mush 1, H79. ' '
