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April 26,1961 THE SKYSCRAPER Page Three Jesuit Philosopher-Author Discusses Maritain, Chesterton, American Culture by Kathleen McGuire and Mary Ann Makowski In the best tradition of the John sonian circle, a select group of English teachers, graduate students and guests recently gathered to meet Reverend Martin C. D'Arcy, S.J., well-known philosopher-author and Provincial of the English Province of the Jesuits. Seemingly at home in the book- lined apartment of Dr. and Mrs. David Spenser, English instructors at Loyola and Mundelein respectively, the dis tinguished guest immediately put the group at ease and set the tone of the evening through a favorite anecdote. Father D'Arcy, himself a highly re spected philosopher, then commented on one of the leading modern Catholic philosophers, my beloved Maritain. Father noted that this philosopher whose delicate and spiritual appear ance belies his almost American tem perament, is in his lonely old age going back to Fiance. When questioned about Maritain's writing, Father admitted I can't im agine him ever stopping but his later works probably do not equal his ear lier ones. As Father talked, the guests began to cluster more and more around this witty, gaunt man whose dark, piercing eyes and dramatic gestures gradually captivated his listeners. When asked about his friend ship with G. K. Chesterton, Fa ther D'Arcy remarked that he was an enchanting man who especially loved children. In fact, he wryly remarked, his only fault seems to have been that God left him out when He passed out origi nal sin. The subject then switched to a dis cussion of the great cultural gap be tween English and American Catholic writers. In answer to an expressed concern about this situation, Father explained that in England culture and education are synonymous among the upper classes. In addition, many of the Catholic families who remained true to the faith are among the firmest in the land and it is from these families that the great writers have come. By contrast, American Catholic writers, whose predecessors were often illiterate, have no such cul tural background. Thus, he con cluded, the maturing process is a long and slow one, but progress is being made in the U.S. Citing the honors classes at George town University as an example, Fa ther commented that Groups of kin dred minds together can raise the cul tural level. Just as great English writers such as Evelyn Waugh and Graham Greene belonged to the same group and magnetized each other, so the dis cussion groups can stimulate Ameri can minds during this transition period. Think hopefully, he advised the group. You are the future. Sparked by his wise but down-to- earth comments, the evening passed all too quickly for Father D'Arcy's impressed listeners. But, they discov ered, even this knowledgeable philoso pher had one unanswered question. Leaning dramatically towards his audience with a twinkle in his eye, Father D'Arcy admitted In the gospel story of the adulterous woman, I've always wondered what Our Lord wrote in the sand. Teachers Merit Grants (Continued from Page 1) SISTER MARY THERESE, physics chairman, will be at California Insti tute of Technology and the Mt. Wilson- Palomar Laboratories. Dr. Edward J. Feeley's grant entitles him to 13 weeks of study at Purdue University. In addition, Sister Mary Eloise, of the economics department, has ob tained a grant from the General Elec tric Foundation to attend a summer program at the University of Chicago on Recent Developments in Applied Economics. SISTER MARY IRENE, psychology chairman, will continue studies in ex perimental psychology begun last Feb ruary on a fellowship at St. Louis U. Sister Mary Harrita, history chair man, will be granted leave of absence during the 1961-62 academic year to serve as guest professor at Chaminade College, Honolulu, Hawaii. Chami nade, a four-year liberal arts college for men and women, is conducted by the Marianist Fathers. SISTER MARY IRMA, professor of English, will spend her fourth summer as guest professor in the Catholic University of America graduate school, department of English, on the Loras College campus. y0 S ; ;VKs: '.';*; i r md mF JIB ' ' Sw bEi gt; mm ,' H If H W ': f j .....,.- TV tB ' 9K w m sBB MAGNIFICAT MEDALIST, Mrs. George Vergara is congratulated by Sister Mary Ann Ida, Albert Cardinal Meyer and the medalist's husband, George Vergara. Ceremonies took place April 18. Meetings, Teas Fill Calendar For 96 Beginning Big Sisters Meetings to acquaint 96 newly ap pointed Big Sisters with their duties have been set for June 13, July 11 and August 15. Sister Mary St. Ida, dean of admissions, and Joan Cirino, '60-'61 SAC vice president, have designed the meetings to brief the girls on their responsibilities of ac quainting Mundelein's latest members Sister Mary Blanche Marie, art instructor, will return for her second summer as guest professor of art and design in the St. Louis University graduate school. SISTER MARY CECILIA, biology chairman, will teach field botany and plant physiology as guest professor at St. Ambrose College, Davenport, la. with the campus before they arrive in September. A brush-up course on the rules of the College and its academic proce dure will be discussed at the meetings to be held at the College, with the spotlight being placed on how to pre sent them to the newcomers. The planning of teas will form an important part of the Big Sister sched ule. In addition to those being held in April and May, several will take place throughout June and July. These will enable the incoming freshmen to meet their Big Sisters and learn the ins and outs of college life. Presidents and moderators of the sophomore and junior classes select the Big Sisters who may accept or refuse membership in the group. Local Girl Travels Behind Iron Curtain in Poland and Russia by Justine Wincek I prepared for my trip to Poland and Russia with mixed emotions. Would we spend most of our time freezing or trying to lose Russian se cret police? As the train pulled out of the Sudbahnhof in Vienna, I sud denly realized it was too late for doubts. At the Czechoslovakia border, hard- looking guards with rifles and subma chine guns searched the train compart ments, looked under the seats and between the wheels for any person try ing to smuggle into the country. From wooden bridges over the train tracks, more armed guards grimly watched for what the others might miss. We were not allowed to leave the train during this hour stopover. Here our Austrian diesel engine was changed for the coal-burning type. Sparks and ashes flew so freely and heavily that we had to keep our win dows closed. Enters Warsaw The Polish border control, although involved, was not as strict nor as wor ried about who was hiding under our seats as were the Czech guards. We arrived in Warsaw at 5 a.m., grimy and tired. At first glance, Warsaw did not look much different from the other European cities I have visited. Although the people were soberly dressed, they did not look ragged or downtrodden. There was a certain friendliness in their glances as they looked us over with open curiosity. Later that day as I walked around the center of town, the many glaring gaps in the line of buildings on the main streets gave evidence of what Warsaw suffered in '39 and '41. Many of the buildings were poorly constructed (by our standards) and showed the haste in which they were put up. What had survived the war was only 15 per cent of the original city. When liberated by the Allies, Warsaw was rubble that stretched for miles in every direction. City Rebuilt When I stood in the market square of the Old City that had been com pletely leveled, but rebuilt, brick by brick, I could not help but admire a people who have had the courage and the strength to rebuild their cities and their nation, more times than most care to remember. On our guided tour of Warsaw, our Polish guide tried to impress on us the fact that what we saw was an achieve ment of the Polish people themselves. He was very careful to tell us that neither Marshall Plan dollar nor Rus sian ruble had been given to Poland. Not once did we hear any praise for Russia or for the Communist Party. Probably one of the best examples of the lengths the Poles go to to ignore Russian influence was our tour of the Cultural Palace. As we approached it, our guide was careful to point out how the architec ture of the building did not fit in with the surroundings. She then announced that it had been planned and erected by Russian engineers and was a gift to the people of Poland from Russia. Once inside, she seemed to forget that she had anybody with her. Si lently, we were lead down marble cor ridors and past elaborately decorated meeting halls. We finally were led into a medium-sized hall where she proudly called our attention to the ceil ing which was an example of typical Polish architecture. Tours Palace This ceiling had been inserted by a group of Polish engineers while the building was in the process of comple tion. We were then led out again past the many empty halls. I wondered to myself how much faith the Russians really put in the Warsaw Pact. Our departure from Warsaw was delayed for about 20 minutes by a de parting Russian official and his long farewells. The no man's land between the Polish and Russian border is a very flat and marshy area. Very few trees or shrubs grow there and a river cuts down the middle of it. Watch Towers Remind On the Russian side, tall wooden watch towers reminded us where we were. We got off the train at Brest and waited there while the wheels on our train were changed to fit the wider Russian gage. As I walked into the train station, I felt that I was looking at a scene that belonged to the past. High cossack boots, old and worn quilted coats and black-dressed women could be seen everywhere. The people just stopped whatever they were doing and stared back in amazement at us. Most of them had worn and tired-looking faces and they moved with the slowness of people used to hard physical labor. Moscow is a drab, dreary and gray city that reflected the heavy slowness TRAVELERS VIEW Tsar cannon, the Kremlin, Moscow. of the people. Many of the buildings looked old and suffered from lack of care. The cars we saw were tinny looking and were exact models of our cars about 10 years back. There is something about Moscow that just fills you with a general feel ing of tiredness and depression. There is no color, no laughter, no lightness. The only color is provided by the many red stars that sit atop the main build ings. On every lamp post were post ers with propaganda slogans. A young university student was our official guide and he in turn was ac companied by the head of the Moscow Consomol organization. On the first day, we had another guide who just sat in the back of our bus and watched our every move. While in Moscow and Leningrad, we were at complete freedom to take pic tures or go off by ourselves. We had no restrictions other than the language barrier. We were shown all the points of interest in Moscow; a watch fac tory, schools, the university and shops. See Marble Subway Their subway stations, which are their great pride, are almost palaces underground. They are very deep and each one is in a different style and marble or gold leafing are used exten sively. In the main one are mosaics of dif ferent events in Russian history. The last one is of Stalin standing atop Lenin's tomb. Surrounding Stalin and still faintly visible, despite attempts to cover it, were five blocked outlines. Stalin's favor must have been a fickle thing. Leningrad was a delightful change. Its many historical buildings still re tain their original colors and this blends in with the architecture to form a charming picture. It was gayer and lighter of spirit. The people looked better-dressed and younger. Included in our city tour was a visit to a pre-fabricated factory, schools, a candy factory (free samples) and mu seums. At the pre-fabricated factory, I was amazed at the poor quality of the materials going into the new build ings. Russia has a great housing prob lem and they are putting up apartment houses as fast as they can. Visits Leningrad By far the most beautiful building in Leningrad is Catherine the Great's sumptuous Winter Palace. It has a fantastic collection of fine art and we could have easily spent more than the three hours we were allowed there. One of the most interesting experi ences of our Russian trip was our meeting with Consomol students. They were very friendly and asked us many questions about our schools, studies, life in the United States, etc. Since most of them did not speak English we had to resort to a combi nation of several languages. When I asked them what they thought of President Kennedy, they all were eager to voice their opinions. They all agreed he seemed to have the ability to be a strong President as Washington, Lincoln and Roosevelt were. However, one said, we fear that he will be forced into war by the military generals who surround him. They all want war. (This statement I have been told by other Europeans, not just these Russian students.) I then asked them if they didn't have generals who wanted war. The one who seemed to be the spokesman said of course not, name me one of our generals who wants war. Name me one of our generals who wants war, I retorted. Answers Russian Students Norstad came the reply. My an swer to that was drowned out by the band which had chosen that moment to strike up the Star Spangled Ban ner. The rest of the evening was spent doing folk dancing and answer ing further questions. As we crossed the Czech border, on our way back, our pent-up feelings let loose and we cheered out of the train window. A Czech guard fingered his rifle and impassively stared. We all cheered again as we passed over into our adopted Austria, beautiful, friendly and FREE. In reflecting on our trip I could think of only one statement that summed up my feelings, How fortu nate I am to be an American
title:
1961-04-26 (3)
publisher:
Women and Leadership Archives http://www.luc.edu/wla
creator:
Mundelein College
description:
Student newspaper for Mundelein College
subject:
Newspapers
subject:
Religious communities--Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
subject:
Students
subject:
Universities and colleges
subject:
Women's education
relation:
Mundelein College Records
type:
Text
language:
English
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Chicago, Illinois
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Mundelein College