Alcala 1958

by her envir onme nt?Mod ern popular bel ief wou ld ho ld fo r cer tain that ch ild ren bor n wit h the here di tyof the Soub iro usfamily and rai sed in the env ironmentof the Cac hot ine vit ab lyhad to bec omedel inq uents. Mod­ ern pop ular be lie f and , in too ma ny cas es, ev en so- cal led sc ien tific psy cholo gy are ign ora nt of two oth er elem ent sat work in the forma tion of pe rso na lity : the gra ce of God and the fre e wil l of ma n. All ers put s thi s the sis clea rly and con­ vincin gly : 2 "T he on ly per son who can be en tir ely fre e from neuros isis the man whose lif e is spent in genu inedev oti onto the nat ura l an d the supern atu ralob ligati on sof lif ean d wh o ha s ste ad fas tlyacc ept ed and aff irm ed hi s plac e in the order of cre ati on. In oth er wor ds, be yond the neu rot ic the re stand s onl y the sai nt. . . . Mora l hea lth, in the str ict sen se, can dev elop on ly in the soi l of a sa int ly lif e, or at leas t a life tha t aims at sai ntl ine ss. " 2 Rudolf Alle rs, The Psyc holo gy of Cha rac ter (Lo ndo n: Sh eed & Ward, 193 9). ent? l i e dity irous f ily ent ably e e ts. - m f , , le tific ology t ts tion nality: t e . sis l - gly : l el is ine ion l t ral li tions fastly e ed tio . , tic s . . l l , , l ly , tlines ." 2 Rudolf Allers, The Psychology pf Character n: . o

l

i e

ts

mad e no vai n attemp ts to acq uir ema teri al goo ds, of wh ich sh e felt no ne ed . In her sec ure poss essio n she hel d trea sur esof far grea ter worth . Th eLad y had promi sedher eter nal hap piness in the wor ld to com e. Wh at Bern adet tehad is the norma l birth­ right of eve ry Cat holi c ch ild :a true devo ­ tion to the Mot her of God , br ingin gwith it all the ric he sof the Chu rch of wh ichMa ry is the symbol and the glo ry. Mary is the mot her, always ful l of lov e for eac h of her childre n,alwayspow erfu l inpro tec tingeac h ind ivid ualsou l. Sh e is not of thi s worldand the refo re will no t pas s from us like the ear thly thi ngs we valu e too hi gh ly . Ea ch ch ild, eac h adult des per ate lynee ds an abso lute , an unch angin g, anun fai lin g obj ect of love , one in wh ich trust and con­ fidence can rest unhes ita tinglyan d secu rel y. Wh at Cat holi cmot her or fat he rcan lament inabil ityto giv e chi ldr en"wha tthe y should ha ve ," whe n fil ia l devotio n to Mary lie s wit hin the reac h of all? Wh y did Ber nadette not bec ome a neu­ ro tic? Wh y was sh e not adver selyaff ect ed s, . i n e sures . ise l i . te l irth- lic il : - , i i g s i l . , l , l in t ting i ual l. is not rld a re t l ly. , ately s l t , anging, an iling , i - itatingly sec rely. lic r ity en " t , l n t e - she not adversely affected ti

LI BR AR Y.—Co lle ge for Men Lib rar y, shown he re und er con stru ctio n,was ded ica ted May 18, 19 58 ,by Bis hop Bu dd y. 32 Y.- Colleg y, ction, te , y. . i