Twenty and Forty
A Dutch convert
used to say:
“When one is not a Socialist
at twenty,
there is something wrong
with his heart;
but if one is a Socialist
at forty
there is something wrong
with his head.”
Works of Mercy
The order of the day
in Catholic circles
is to fight Communism.
To denounce Communism
in Catholic halls
is not an efficient way
to fight Communism.
The daily practice
of the Works of Mercy
is a more efficient way
to fight Communism.
The daily practice
of the Works of Mercy
by the first Christians
made the pagans
say about the Christians
“See how they love each other.”
Irish Scholars
When the Irish scholars
decided to lay the foundations
of medieval Europe,
they established:
Centers of Thought
in all the cities of Europe
as far as Constantinople,
where people
could look for thought
so they could have light.
Houses of Hospitality
where Christian charity
was exemplified.
Agricultural Centers
where they combined
(a) Cult–
that is to say Liturgy
(b) with Culture–
that is to say Literature
(c) with Cultivation–
that is to say Agriculture.
Chinese Catholics
Chinese Catholics
are showing us the way
to fight Communism.
Non-Catholic writers
are writing about
the mode of living
of the Brothers of St. John Baptist.
Chinese Communists
went to visit the Brothers
and told them
that their mode of living
is more perfect
than the mode of living
of the Communist Party.
The Brothers of St. John Baptist
try to exemplify
the Sermon on the Mount.
The Sermon on the Mount
is considered practical
by the Brothers of St. John Baptist.
Five Books
If you want to know
what industrialism
has done to man,
read Man the Unknown,
by Dr. Alexis Carrel.
If you want to know
how we got that way,
read A Guildsman’s Interpretation
of History,
by Arthur Penty.
If you want to know
what it is
to be a bourgeois,
read The Bourgeois Mind,
by Nicholas Berdyaev.
If you want to know
what religion
has to do with culture,
read Enquiries Into Religion and Culture,
by Christopher Dawson.
If you want to know
what to do with freedom,
read Freedom in the Modern World,
by Jacques Maritain.