YOUTH SERIES III 

y 0 U î H 

NATIONAL COUNCIL 
CATHOLIC WOMEN 
1312 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE N.W. 
WASHINGTON • • D-C-





'She Caii to ^outlV 

Series of Radio Talks 

Arranged for Leadership Study 

In Cooperation with 

The National Broadcasting Company 

National Council of Catholic Women 
1312 Massachusetts Avenue, N. W. 

Washington, D. C. 



Imprimatur: 
•ì- JOHN FRANCIS NOLL, D. D., 

Bishop of Fort Wayne 

OUR . SUNDAY . VISITOR . PRESS 
Huntington, Indiana 



PREFACE 
This little book contains, for permanent consideration, 

the 17 addresses on Youth delivered to a national radio aud-
ience by Miss Anne Sarachon Hooley, Chairman of the Na-
tion Youth Committee of the National Council of Catholic 
Women. 

A Western Conference on Youth was held at Salt Lake 
City during April, 1937. There were present priests from all 
dioceses except one, from Denver to the Pacific coast, as well 
as many women from that vast area who, under the National 
Council of Catholic Women, are promoting the work of Girl 
Guidance. 

I t is believed that if youth can be organized and served 
by their Church along spiritual, cultural, vocational and rec-
reational lines in that vast area, where, for the most part, 
Catholics are very sparsely settled, there should be no spec-
ial difficulty in organizing and servicing youths in any other 
part of the United States. 

In order that local groups may derive more benefit from 
the perusal of these discourses, a study outline of 
each address is appended to the same. Evidently, therefore, 
we should like to see this little work attain an immense cir-
culation and elicit interest from Study Clubs everywhere. 

•i" JOHN FRANCIS NOLL, 
Episcopal Chairmen of 

Lay Organization. 



TABLE OP CONTENTS 
Page 

Preface . __ , g 
Foreword „ __ '_ ' - , ./"'g^V-
Youth Council Plan ^ ; 7 

Fundamentals of a Youth Program I t 9 
II 

Organization of a Youth Program ' • 16 

r I 111 Leadership :„>._ •'•_• 29 
IV 

Sponsorship l i i s j , ^ _• • qg 
V 

The Victory of Youth r^.-.: 42 

VI 
Out-of-door Recreation • •• . »Vf'.'; » 43 

VII 
Play-days—Sports ~ / .. • 55 

VIII 
Youth Needs Beauty ' r;.-. , 6 1 

IX 
Books _ go 

X 
Arts—Crafts ... - • . " - _ 74 

XI 
Vocational Guidance ____ 1 gi 

x n 
Preparation for Marriage and Parenthqod ._.:... 87 

XIII 
Youth Chooses a Career -—¿-^¿.^¿Si—- 93 

XIV 
Opportunities for Rural Youth - . - .. iqO 

XV 
International Youth Cdngress '• i • \<yj 

XVI 
Youth Looks at World Forces 113 

XVII 
A Challenge to Youth Leaders 120 



FOREWORD 
To you, the leaders and sponsors of Youth, this series is 

humbly dedicated. May you meet Youth at the turn of the 
road and walk with them all the way to help find the riches 
of the journey in joy and beauty and service. And as you 
give generously those hours to play with them at stunning 
rollicking fun, to assist them in a vocational expression and 
to join them in serious preparation for intellectual and spir-
itual integrity, I beg you to remember that yours is the priv-
ilege of tending the flame of youth. Curb it that it may do 
no harm to the possessor or to society, feed it that it may 
achieve the purpose of its destiny, keep its color gleaming 
bright that it may bring to the men and women of the 1950's, 
serenity and loveliness and strength. 

We wish to acknowledge the contribution of those, but 
for whom this piece of work could not have been done, and 
we here express our sincere gratitude to His Excellency, the 
Most Reverend John F. Noll, Episcopal Chairman of N. C. 
C. W., for his blessing and encouraging help through print-
ing this book; to the National Broadcasting Company, and 
particularly to Mr. Franklin Dunham, Educational Director 
of N. B. C., whose vision and constant friendly interest has 
been at our disposal throughout; to His Excellency, the Most 
Reverend James E. Kearney, Bishop of Salt Lake; to His 
Excellency, the Most Reverend Edwin V. O'Hara, Bishop of 
Great Falls, Montana; to Dr. Lillian Gilbreth, Vice Chair-
man of the National Board of the Girl Scouts of America, 
New York City; to Dr. Elizabeth Morrissy, member of Inter-
national Labor Committee, and Professor of Political Econo-
my, Notre Dame College, Baltimore, and member of the fac-
ulty of the National Catholic School of Social Service; to 
Mrs. Alice Conway Carney, community organizer of Girl 
Scouts, Inc., New York City; to Miss Mary G. Hawks, mem-
ber of International Bureau of the International Union of 
Catholic Women's Leagues, Buffalo, New York; to Mrs. 
James J. Hayden, Washington, D. C.; to Miss Clara Bradley, 
member of the faculty of the National Catholic School of 
Social Service, for the very excellent and worthwhile talks 
which they have contributed to this series; to the Board and 
Staff of the N. C. C. W. who have aided through their en-
couragement and cooperation and by the efficient handling of 
the many details of arranging this program; to N. B. C. stu-



dios WREN, KSDL, and WMAL for facilities so graciously 
offered; and lastly to you, the radio audience, for your thous-
ands of letters and messages of encouragement which have 
contributed largely to whatever success it has had. We draw 
you all together in the interests of Youth work that when 
Christ walks again, He may not find that those whom He has 
entrusted to our generation are unlovely and afraid. 

ANNE SARACHON HOOLEY 



"Christus Vincit, Christus Régnât, Christus 

Imperat" 

YOUTH 

NATIONAL COUNCIL OF CATHOLIC 
WOMEN 

Our Youth groups of young women and girls are organ-
ized as our Senior Councils, with a parallel set-up through-
out. They are sponsored by the Youth Chairmen of the 
Councils: 

Each Parish has a parish chairman of Youth. 
The parish chairmen compose the deanery committee. 
The deanery chairmen compose the diocesan committee. 
The diocesan chairmen compose the national committee. 
The National Chairman of Youth is appointed by the 

National Board of Directors, as is the 
Field Secretary of Youth. 

Our Youth Council is 
1. National in scope 
2. Diocesan in authority 
3. Parochial in function 

Our Objectives are 

1. Spiritual integrity 

2. Cultural appreciation 

3. Intellectual balance 

4. Recreational joyousness 

5. Service 

Our Age Levels are 
1. Junior High School 
2. High School 
3. Out-of School 

Our Aids to Leaders are 
1. L e a d e r s ' Loose - leaf 

Notebook 

2. Youth—Today and To-
morrow 

3. Youth—Leadership and 
Catholic Action 

4. Leaders' Training Out-
line. 

5. N. C. C. W. Publica-
tions 



Our Activities are four-fold: 

11 Spiritual 
Group prayers 
Missions 
Apologetics 
Field Mass 
Liturgy 
Retreats 
Corporate Communion 
Communion Breakfasts 
Days of Recollection 
"Our Lady" Days 

2. Cultural 
Study Clubs 
Discussion groups 
Reading groups 
Trips-tours 
Libraries 
Music 
Dramatics 
Art 

3. Vocational 

Vocational Guidance 
Parent Education 
Homemaking 
Handicrafts 
Home Economics 
Apprentice Training 
Commercial Training 

4. Recreational 
Hobby Clubs 
Sports-Games 
Hiking-Camping 
Swimming 
Picnics 
Parties 
Dancing 
Community Nights 
Play Days 



THE FUNDAMENTALS OF A YOUTH 
PROGRAM 

Anne Sarachon Hooley 

A quiz-master in law school once made this remark to 
our class, "The most valuable single thing in the world to-
day is a boy or girl reared to the age of 21 years, for into 
this youth has been poured all the advantages of culture and 
of science known to generations past, and in it lies the hope 
of all civilizations to come." And he might have added, 
which he did not, "Into this youth has been poured an im-
mortal soul which marks it for an eternal destiny." 

Now if youth be such a priceless possession, wouldn't 
it be interesting to note what the nations of the world are 
doing with and for their youth ? Any nation guards, con-
serves, and nourishes its natural resources such as timber, 
oil, and the treasures of the earth beneath; it raises an army 
for the defense of its borders; it sends a navy and an air 
corps out across the far-flung seas to throw a protecting 
arm about its merchant marine or to maintain its supremacy 
of the waters. But the youth of a nation constitutes a far 
more valuable asset in the march of progress. So what of 
them? 

Here is a nation training its youth to become robots, 
physically, intellectually and morally; for the home it has 
substituted a community nursery and for a standard of mor-
als it has provided the great Gay Payoo. To the south of 
it a nation is training its youth to become gun-fodder. Daily 
they march and drill and polish the sabre or the rifle that 
they may steel themselves to the philosophy of militaristic 
conquest. Another nation, which when this generation were 
children, boasted through its atheist leader that it had taken 
God out of the skies and out of the hearts of little ones, now 
looks with tragic eyes upon a youth which has felt the in-
fluence of dissolute paganism. Another country is rearing 
its youth in a nationally made atmosphere of red revolution. 
In its library of public education where one might at least 
expect to find portrayed the ideals of the nation, there hang 
murals depicting strife between labor and capital, as well 



10 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

as the panaceas of the Third Internationale. Into its bord-
ers and among its youth, has been welcomed a great leader 
of Communism. 

If these sorry pictures are not to be duplicated one way 
or another in our beloved America, then it will be because 
everywhere leaders and sponsors have opened for today's 
youth the riches of living—a living which is not only a per-
sonal fulfillment, but a discharge of that destiny whose mark 
is upon them. In our own opening few moments today we 
are attempting to suggest those fundamentals which any 
Youth program must develop, and to depict in a measure the 
wealth which may accrue to the youth of our decade. 

Because we are discussing in this series largely organi-
zation work, we shall not touch formally on those three 
great influences—the church, the home, and the school. If 
we appear sometimes to wander f a r afield from athletics, 
social activities, vocational guidance, careers and the like, 
remember if you will, that those things, important though 
they be, are only the tangible impedimenta of that journey 
which we are pleased to call life. Like good travelers we 
must be able to pick them up when they are needed and like-
wise to leave them behind when they are no longer of value 
by the way. 

A Youth program first of all must open to those who use 
it an understanding of recreation in the wider sense. Re-
creation is not all sports; it is not the indulgence of the 
senses; it is a re-creation in the human heart of the spirit of 
joy and of beauty and of service. Of joy because that is the 
very law of the Universe, for we have laughing brooks and 
smiling skies and singing birds. Of beauty because from 
the rising of the sun on a dewy morning until it sinks at last 
in a riot of golden color into the dusk of a starry evening, 
beauty has been spilled upon our day like raindrops in a 
summer shower. The Creator has placed within the heart of 
every man a hunger for it and in the hands of a few the 
genius for creating it. Youth is a perfect touchstone for 
beauty, and as beauty is builded into recreation, so is it 
builded into the life of a nation. Of service, because as Jor-
gensen says, "The ultimate wisdom of living is to serve." 
There is no alchemy for making charm like service; there is 
no power for building character like service; yes, I shall go 



«Ccfeoions 

THE FUNDAMENTALS OP A YOUTH PROGRAM 11 

even further, there is no open sesame to happiness like ser-
vice. 

This interpretation solves the major questions centering 
about the formation of a recreation program. I t demands 
immediately that athletics be the participation of the many 
rather than the outstanding feats of the few, that girls' ac-
tivities be based upon a girl's physique, experiences, tastes, 
and that the sports be productive of leadership and self-
direction as well as the thrill of doing or the exhileration of 
released energy. Especially to the properly arranged mixed 
group activities do we look for the satisfaction of the social 
urge, that wholesome desire to find one's pleasure with con-
genial friends. There must be both pattern and freedom, ex-
uberance and emotional stability, individual satisfaction and 
social integration, for only. when we see recreation as re-
creation do we touch the possibilities of a perfectly balan-
ced program. 

Again it must produce a cultural appreciation. With in-
finite caution, and the delicacy seen in the unfolding of a 
rosebud, this sense of cultural taste can be developed in 
youth. I t is the opening of that whole vast world of music, 
painting, drama, poetry, and all of literature—the opening 
of it in such a manner that youth itself secures innately a 
measuring rod with which to determine the sham from the 
real, the false from the true, and the tawdry from the beau-
tiful. This world is opened to youth sometimes through the 
doing of things himself, however limited may be the re-
sults, and sometimes through acquaintanceship with the mas-
ters. Ordinarily the combination is more effective because 
only where there is an appreciation of artistry, is there an 
urge to create. We have been a nation of pioneers, spend-
ing our forces on the tilling of the soil and the building of 
our cities. We have felt the pressure of rapid progress driv-
ing us on relentlessly until, rather suddenly, we are faced 
with a new leisure, a possibility of much time for the satis-
faction of those cherished desires hitherto only vaguely 
dreamed of. That tomorrow's generation may know this 
richer use of leisure, today's youth must form its standard 
of measurement, its sense of appreciation. Not forgetting 
the negative side, for we well know that a symphony may 
sometimes be the same deterrent to crime as is a basketball 



12 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

game, we see in, this cultural appreciation primarily a posi-
tive value, the enrichment of the individual, the providing of 
the daffodils as well as bread. 

It must produce an intellectual balance—an ability to 
test the isms and the osophies of the day, to weigh them on 
the scales of truth and justice,-to judge dispassionately the 
causes which they are asked to espouse. Youth today is 
thinking, is seeking; it is beset on every side by propaganda 
but too often its willingness to wave a banner carries it 
along with the mob unthinking, unreasoning, passionate. It 
is soothing, to have people tell us that Communism is not a 
peril to our country, that such philosophy is contrary to our 
American way of thinking, that we are at large a Christian 
nation. Conversely, it is disturbing to ask ourselves, Was 
Russia Christian? Was Germany Christian? Does Spain 
have a Christian heritage ? Because in our own day sub-
versive forces have imperiled their freedom and their peace. 
And where so much as among youth has Communism found 
its recruits in our country; where so much as in our insti-
tutions has it carried propaganda? 

A Youth program must furnish vocational guidance. 
Whatever effect on the future may be anticipated from the 
tendency to increase this equipment in the schools, it is clear 
that under present conditions at least much desire and op-
portunity for guidance fall within the leisure period. Apti-
tudes, tendencies, talents appear unrestrainedly in the infor-
mal vocational projects so that leaders are able to direct 
youth toward that vitally necessary end—the achievement of 
some one thing with such excellence that it becomes an as-
set, economically and psychologically. 

And finally through and across it all must run the de-
velopment of spiritual integrity. So fundamental is this to 
work and play, to joy and sorrow that all may be correlated 
with and through it. Into the daily pattern of living must he 
woven the deep red thread of divinity spun by Him Who has 
created us. Close friendship with the Master Weaver will 
keep its color gleaming bright and the faint tracery of its 
pattern firm and true. 

About twenty years ago this spring a soldier poet looked 
out across the shell-torn, blood-strewn battle lines to fields 
beyond where poppies soon would bloom above the comrade 



THE FUNDAMENTALS OF A YOUTH PROGRAM 13 

dead, and wrote those poignant verses of "I Have a Rende-
vous with Death". 

Likewise youth today looks out upon a world shell-torn 
with the devastations of economic and social strife, blood-
strewn with the riotous living of the mad twenties and the 
depression of the early thirties. They have a rendezvous, 
not with death but with life. Theirs is the opportunity of 
bringing into this turmoil the serenity of youth and the joy-
ous strength of youth. They can return tired men and 
broken civilizations to the Author of perfect truth and the 
Creator of perfect beauty. They can, purge the old leaven 
and bring to it new standards of joy and culture and service. 
They can raise new ideals of social justice so that the rights 
of man may never be superseded by the rights of property 
which is a soulless thing; and they.and they alone can re-
turn the hearthstone to our homes. The aim of any youth 
movement should be to help them in this task. 

To walk beside them as they go, dauntless, resilient, 
generous, aflame with the courage and the ease of their un-
tried strength, is the privilege of youth leaders and youth 
sponsors. To the end that you leaders may be good com-
panions on the way, gay in your undertaking, sober in your 
purpose, and wise counsellors in the quiet of your nightly 
gatherings at the close of each day—to this end, I say, we 
begin this series. 



14 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

"All For Christ" 

TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. Why are organized Catholic youth groups so essential 
to society now? 

2. Discuss the relation of church, home, school, recreation 
center. 

3. What is the true meaning of "recreation" ? The purpose ? 
4. How can the above understanding of recreation be ap-

plied to programming? 
5. What points should be kept in mind in planning a well-

rounded program? An athletic program? A social one? 
6. What place does cultural appreciation hold? 
7. Why is "Intellectual balance" so important today? 
8. Discuss vocational guidance and its place in a balanced 

program. 
9. What fundamental quality must be developed through-

out our Youth program? 
10. What are the primary aims of Catholic youth work? 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Christian Education of Youth Encyclical, Pope Pius XI. 
Atheistic Communism Encyclical, Pope Pius XI. 

National Catholic Welfare Conference—10c 

Youth—Today and Tomorrow .... Proceedings, Youth Institute 
National Council Catholic Women—25c 





THE ORGANIZATION OF A YOUTH 
PROGRAM 

Most Reverend James E. Kearney, Bishop of Salt Lake, 
Most Reverend John F. Noll, Bishop of Port Wayne 
Most Reverend Edwin V. O'Hara, Bishop of Great Falls. 
Introduction, Anne Sarachon Hooley. 

H 1 a™ h aPPy t 0 ^ y Good-morning to you from the 
Western Regional Youth Conference at Salt Lake City To 
the conference have come directors of youth, sponsors of 
youth, and many youths themselves from all this great wes-
tern country. The conference is under the patronage of the 
one who guided the toddling footsteps of the Child Christ 
about the home at Nazareth, in the hope that the discus-
sions and meetings held here may aid in bringing to youth 
programs today many -of the riches of that home. 

j We are guests of the generous ordinary of the diocese 
oi bait Lake and I am privileged to present to you His Ex-
cellency, the Most Reverend James E. Kearney: 

Bishop Kearney: 

A most welcome privilege for me is this opportunity of 
welcoming the first Regional Council of Catholic Youth to 
the diocese of Salt Lake. True to her mission and consistent 
with her best traditions, the Catholic Church has always 
been concerned about the welfare of her children. From the 
moment they are carried from the baptismal font, she real-
izes a tremendous responsibility for their happiness here 
and their spiritual welfare hereafter. Here in the United 
States, at tremendous expense, she has maintained for years 
her magnificent schools, academies and colleges in order to 
carry out the command of her Founder: "Feed my lambs." 

However, each succeeding age presents its own prob-
lems and the present age, presenting as it does many chal-
lenges, offers a very serious challenge to those who are in-
terested in Christian youth. As Archbishop Mitty has ex-
pressed it in his message to this Convention: 

"The preservation of Catholic ideals and standards in 
social life and action depends to a great extent on the care 
and guidance given youth of our day. The development of 



THE ORGANIZATION OF A YOUTH PROGRAM 17 

the character of Christ in our boys and girls through the 
Church and the Sacraments is further assured by our con-
cern in meeting their other essential needs, social, cultural 
and recreational, by a well-rounded and varied program of 
activities under properly trained leadership. 

"The Catholic Youth Movement of the present day is 
the modern adaptation of the old, time-honored endeavor of 
thé Catholic Church to guide and direct young people in the 
spiritual life and in their leisure time as well. Environment 
plays its part in the shaping of these young lives; the 
Church, the home, the school, and the community make their 
lasting impressions on character, and opportunity must be 
had for the direction of the energy of youth in the proper 
channels." 

We are blind to what is happening around us if we do 
riot see that we live in a truly critical and crucial age in 
which changes are being brought about that will control 
course and direction to ensuing generations—or perhaps 
even centuries. That direction will be either toward ordered 
liberty with economic security and individual human dignity 
and freedom, or toward state control and regimented slavery 
in the economic, social and spiritual order. The character 
of our time will be determined by the problems we face and 
by the group that has the courage, the intelligence and the 
will to effect their solution according to right ideas of hu-
man life. The character of the ensuing age will be deter-
mined by the philosophy of life which we give to the young 
people of this present generation. 

Every period in human history probably considered itself 
a crucial period. In each century we find writers expressing 
forebodings, alarms at change, prophecies of disaster. Most 
of these were merely the natural exaggeration by contem-
poraries of the importance of their own time. Our age has 
seen the climax of the industrial revolution, the spread and 
acceptance by the whole world of technical production by 
machines, mechanical and inventive achievement that fa r 
surpasses any similar progress in all previous human his-
tory. In less than one generation, indeed since 1917, we have 
seen changes in the political order throughout the world 
that no man living in the nineteenth century or even in the 
first decade of the twentieth century would have conceived 



20 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

as possible. We have seen the almost complete destruction 
not only^of monarchy, but of parliamentary democracy in 
Europe, the widespread breakdown of those institutions of 
government and economics that the nineteenth century be-
lieved would bring on the millenium. 

Man and mankind today appear to be confronted with 
a new destiny. Modern men face social revolution, economic 
transformation, and political chaos. In places civilization 
itself seems tottering. Unrest and dissatisfaction, expect-
ancy of and eagerness for change, an acute consciousness of 
economic and social strain are everywhere 

sai mSBm S I Hp r i n t e d word and 8 ! mm 
S£d with the interest of all classes in social and economic 
maladjustments, with the radio, the movie, the public preTs 
the magazmes and all the terrifying apparatus of m S 
catapulted^nto ° W k W 1 9 i g a n s " 
catapulted into new incitements to action, fears or inhibi 
tions m a few months or years, whereas hitherto such rad 
c ^ changes required decades or even generations to accom-

More menacing to America is the sobering truth en 

fen6W 6 V i d e n c e ' t h a t t h e enemies o H u r t a-
d tionai liberties, determined to resolve the modern piob em 
according to their own ideas, which are both r e v o l u t i o n ^ 
and destructive, are now engaged in world-wide, internatTon 

fflWWi supported by vast sums of m o n e T ^ Z ' 
ganized plans of expression and action, and propa^tTd J t h 
fanatical zea that spreads perversive doctriLs e v e r l h T r e 
Experience elsewhere shows that if this sort of T i 
propaganda be not met and checked, K ^ T Z 
lod of social and economic unrest ir, o • s a p e r " ¡ ¡ ¡ g L,: „ wmg ̂ ssssmm 
of human dignity, and of religion itself. culture, 

This propaganda is not intellectual H S Wm , ! . 
that, being backed with a whole pMlosophy of 1 8 
also practical. Here and elsewhere it $£$£ ' ' 14 l s 

ity afforded to create more u ^ e s t « 1 7 7 U S ' 
mately aiming at such a complete l i L t T r f ^ 
nomic and social life as to E g t Z l l Z L T T ' I f 
centrating its activity on young people * 18 C°n" 

The Catholic Church never loses sight of the obligation 



THE ORGANIZATION OF A YOUTH PROGRAM 19 

to inculcate in the minds of her children and particularly 
while their young minds are yet soft and impressionable; 
"What doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world and 
lose his own soul." They are destined for different occupa-
tions in life: some for mercantile pursuits, and others for 
the learned professions of which it is their duty to learn the 
qualifications in order that they may competently fill the 
post that is assigned them. But though called to fill the of-
fices of the State, this is not their ultimate destination; and 
its functions, however important, must ever be subordinate 
to the attainment of that eternal happiness for which they 
were created; whence'it follows, that it becomes the para-
mount duty of those who are entrusted with their develop-
ment to furnish them amply with the means best fitted to en-
able them to secure the great end of their existence. Now, 
to devote almost the entire time of youth, from the begin-
ning to the end of a week or month, to qualify one for of-
fices or interests of which there will be no trace in a few 
years, and to snatch only a stealthy hour or two to give 
them to those interests which will endure forever in the aw-
ful alternative of supreme blessedness or supreme misery, 
is a total subversion of the laws of just proportions. But 
since it happens, by a strange reversal in the moral order, 
that the social or secular education has been placed in a 
paramount position which it should not occupy by those who 
are in control of its destinies in so many places, the obli-
gation falls upon the Church to furnish mental culture that 
is regulated by religion on the same principle by which we 
are guided in preferring the interests of eternity before 
those of the world and of time. By this supremacy of the 
religious principle over the various departments of know-
ledge, it will not be imagined that I am advocating the em-
ployment of the young in the continual recital of the Chris-
tian doctrine. 

No; it was not thus the principle of religious education 
was understood in those times exclusively Catholic, when 
from the schools and universities of the Catholic Church 
went forth men, the lights not only of their own, but also of 
af ter times, to whom every useful ar t was indebted for its 
cultivation and every science for the enlargement of its 
boundaries: men whose skill and enterprise conquered op-



20 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

posing oceans in exploring the opposite hemispheres, letting 
in the light of science, of civilization, and of religion on na-
tions that lay buried in darkness and the shadow of death, 
and enriching other countries, to the end of time, with the 
fruits of their discoveries. Whilst engaged in their scientific 
achievements, religion was the guide of their steps and the 
goal for which they panted, and the humble monks \frho first 
taught mankind to cement the sands of the sea and to fash-
ion them into polished and flaming mirrors, by which not 
only the distant and hidden planets were brought within the 

. range of the human eye, but even their interior thrown open 
to the gaze of mortals, those benefactors of the human race, 
so fa r from aiming at fame as their reward, tell us that the' 
greatest incentive to their labor was that they might en-
able ecclesiastics, whose sight was dim and feeble from old 
age, to recite the divine office, and continue to intone with 
their living voice the divine praise, of which the stars them-
selves are but the mute heralds, proclaiming His glory 
through the splendour of the firmament. 

When we insist on a religious influence, we mean that 
it should still continue to hold in the mind and heart of 
every youth that sacred influence to which it is entitled from 
its divine origin. Let it not be imagined that the peculiar 
refinements of any country, or its extraordinary advances in 
civilization, render it less necessary to insist on the predom-
inance of religion in the life of its youth. In no state of so-
ciety should education be placed beyond its tutelage; but 
where its vigilance is more particularly required is when 
wealth increases the violence of the passions, and when lux-
ury spreads around the contagion of depraved example. An 
artificial refinement of manners is no index whatever of in-
nocence, and the examples of the ancient Egyptians, Greeks 
and Romans unquestionably show how frequent is the alli-
ance between vice and science, between a high state of civi-
lization and the most humiliating corruption. The intellects 
of the former, now soaring to the heavens, and measuring 
the celestial bodies in their orbits, were the next moment 
bowed down in shameful adoration to the vilest weeds of 
their gardens, or the most loathsome and noxious reptiles of 
their rivers. Of the Greeks, some of the maxims of their . 
profoundest sages were such as St. Paul forbids us to utter 



THE ORGANIZATION OF A YOUTH PROGRAM 21 

and the corruption of the most enlightened I cannot better 
describe than in the terrible picture which the same Apostle 
draws of them in his Epistle to the Romans: "Wherefore 
God gave them up to the desires of their heart, to unclean-
ness, to shameful affections, delivering them up to a repro-
bint© sense." 

It were well if this appalling picture were only applicable 
to those polished nations of antiquity, on which the light of 
the Gospel had not yet shone. A similar corruption keeps 
pace in modern times with the progress of arts and sciences, 
among all people, whose morals are not controlled by strong 
religious convictions and protected by the fences of a strict 
religious discipline. Where virtue, then, is not inculcated by 
precept and enforced by example, when the early buddings 
of vice are not nipped as soon as they appear, there the 
young cannot be placed with safety to society or to them-
selves, much less should they be suffered to be trained where 
the shoots of vice grow and spread with a rank luxuriance. 
But where there are unsound notions of fai th there must be 
a corresponding decay of morality, for, as fai th is the vig-
orous principle that produces the abundant f rui t of virtue 
and good works, i t must be expected that if this prolific root 
is once decayed, instead of the produce of good works, meri-
torious of eternal life, nought is to be found but barrenness 

and corruption. 
Though destined for a heavenly kingdom, its young heirs 

have certain laws to comply with, and certain obstacles to 
encounter and subdue, before they can attain the end of their 
creation. Those laws are the commandments of God, fully 
revealed, and more fixed and infallible for the moral guid-
ance of the soul tVian are the physical laws of nature for reg-
ulating material bodies. Now, we are told by Job that "the 
life of man is a warfare upon earth," and of this warfare 
unquestionably the hottest stage is that of youth, when he is 
assailed by a tumultous confederacy of lawless passions and 
desires; and it is in that awful crisis, that period on which, 
like a pivot, may hang his triumph or defeat, he needs all 
the aids of religion. Our Holy Father appropriately says in 
his Encyclical, "Atheistic Communism:" 

"The most urgent need of the present day is therefore 
the energetic and timely application of remedies which will 



22 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

effectively ward off the catastrophe that daily grows more 
threatening. We cherish the firm hope that the fanaticism 
with which the sons of darkness work day and night at their 
materialistic and atheistic propaganda, will at least serve 
the holy purpose of stimulating the sons of light to a like 
and even greater zeal for the honor of the Divine Majesty." 

Miss Hooley: Since the Conference has been called by 
the National Councils of Catholic Men and Catholic Women, 
it is signally honored by the* presence of the Episcopal Chair-
man of these organizations, His Excellency, the Most Rever-
end John F. Noll, Bishop of Fort Wayne, whom I now pre-
sent to you. 

Bishop Noll: 
Every nation, and every organization of importance 

within a nation is deeply interested in youth—and rightfully 
so, because to the youths of today, in another generation, 
will be entrusted the destiny both of State and Church, all 
the offices of trust and, therefore, human welfare as such. 

We regard youth as virgin soil, which should be cultivat-
ed for a rich harvest; we regard youth as the young sap-
phng which, if not watered and cultivated and propped, is 
more likely to grow crooked than straight. 

Just as the farmer, during spring, occupies himself with 
the preparation of his soil, the sowing of his seed, so during 
the springtime of human life, which youth represents, the 
Church believes that the seed of God's word must be planted 
in the minds, and the seed of virtue planted in the hearts of 
those, who must lead the way for a healthy state of society 
and of government in the generation immediately ahead of 
us. ' 

Christ not only did His best work during youth, but He 
passed from the scene of life at about that age which limits 
the upper bracket of youth. He is held up to the Catholic 
youths of America not as a historical character, worthy of 
their imitation, but as one who still lives among men as a 
brother, appealing to them to measure everything in the 
light of their eternal destiny and to govern their conduct by 

~ h r i ,S t ' t h e g r e a t E x e m P l a r °f yo«th, associated 
with Himself other youths, who were schooled by Him for 
three years and then commissioned to go out and change 



THE ORGANIZATION OF A YOUTH PROGRAM 23 

the face of the earth. With the assistance of the Holy Spirit, 
they accomplished the wonders which are still the marvel of 
the world, and will be until time fades into eternity. 

Through His Church Christ has invited young men 
throughout nineteen centuries to join Him in the great work 
of spreading His teaching and His lofty moral code, and He 
does that today, whether they prepare for the holy ministry 
as Christ's accredited agents and delegates to do the precise 
things which He did for mankind, or whether they remain 
laymen in the world working, under their spiritual leaders, 
to exemplify His life and activities among others. 

The Church would have youth get i ts greatest thrill 
from the contemplation of man's dignity as a child of God 
and heir of Heaven; she would have him realize that he was 
"created only a little less than the angels," that his destiny 
is that of the angels, and that he can achieve bliss eternal 
in the Kingdom of God in a beautiful world in the company 
of angels. 

The young, whose early religious instruction was ne-
glected, and who are likely, therefore, to be influenced 
throughout life by the materialist, who teaches that man 
originated from the animal, is an animal, and must be ex-
pected to follow the instincts of the animal, cannot be truly 
happy even on earth. They can never even realize how dif-
ferent is the state of mind and peace of heart of those who 
were reared in the school of Christ. 

Religious practice must rest on religious information, 
because certainly no one can be filled with enthusiasm over 
something of which he knows next to nothing. Yes, the lack 
of definite convictions in relation to both faith and morals 
is responsible for the religious indifferentism of our day; and 
the indifferentists will never be ready to wage battle against 
the forces of irreligion, which are so perfectly organized, and 
which have the support of a large cross section of the press 
in the United States. There are magazines published in the 
interests of the educated, which feature debates and discus-

1 sions on religious subjects, but they purposely invite, for the 
' conduct of the debates, men who have a reputation for tear-

ing down rather than building up Christian fai th and moral-
ity. 

Youth in America is not being regimented under a die-



24 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

tator as in several European countries, but numerous youth 
organizations, having a membership of some 3,000,000, are 
federated under the American Youth Congress, whose lead-
ership is anything but Christian. The better minded ones 
among these should assert themselves at their annual meet-
ings and demand direction which is in keeping wtfh demo-
cratic principles, which are Christian principles. If this gov-
ernment totters and falls during the hext generation, the en-
tire blame will be placed on the shoulders of the youths, of 
today. Therefore, let youth be trained toward the conserva-
tion, the intensification of Christianity, on whose props dem-
ocracy must rest. 

Miss Hooley: The sermon at the Pontifical High Mass 
tomorrow will be delivered by the distinguished Bishop of 
Great Falls, Montana, the Most Reverend Edwin V. O'Hara 
whom I am happy to present here. 

Bishop O'Hara: 

I t is a distinct pleasure to greet the thousands of groups 
throughout the United States who are listening to these 
youth broadcasts of the National Council of Catholic Wo-
men and particularly to share in the broadcast this morning 
from the City of Salt Lake where under the patronage of 
Bishop Kearney the first regional Catholic Youth Council is 
gathering representatives from the Western dioceses of the 
United States to consider how the National Council of Cath-
olic Men and the National Council of Catholic Women may 
aid their local youth groups to further a program of action 
beneficial to themselves, to society and to religion I t can 

H H t h e H i C a S U a l ° b S e r V e r S t h a t ^ r c e s hos-
tile both to society and religion are seeking to convince the 
youth of today that it should follow attractive but d a n g l 
ous and false guides. Nor can any thoughtful person f S 
to^see that youth today is confronted with a more compl 
cated world than any previous youthful generation h a s f S 

• H 18 I P a" PerS°nS Wh° are concerned with 
the welfare of our young people and not merely interested in 
he promotion of revolutionary changes, have I d u t y ! give 

their best thought and devote their time without stint t o T s - ' 
sist youth in forming prudent judgment, and in making wSe 
decisions when challenged by the multiplicity of aUuring 
paths which attract their attention. alluring 



THE ORGANIZATION OF A YOUTH PROGRAM 25 

It is not enough that we consider these matters individ-
ually, important as that duty is, but we must gather togeth-
er in every community to give collective thought to the guid-
ance of youth. In our modern community individual action 
will accomplish little, because it will be spasmodic and not 
correlated with the similar action of others; it will fail to be 
effective just because it is individual. What is needed- is to 
deliberate with our neighbors and formulate a fairly long 
time program which will be faithfully supported by strong 
groups united in their thinking by religious and social prm-
ciples. 

I t is to accomplish this purpose that the N. C. C. M. and 
N C C W those great federations of Catholic Men and 
Women/set 'up by the bishops of the United States, have 
sponsored the Regional Youth Conference being held in Salt 
Lake during these days. -It was for the same purpose that 
the N C. C. W. through its Youth Chairman and with the 
cooperation of the National Broadcasting Company inaugu-
rated this series of Saturday morning Youth broadcasts to 
which you are now listening. 

It is heartening to learn how widely these broadcasts 
are being followed by the radio audience. It insures that 
the message prepared under the enlightened direction of Miss 
Hooley and her committee will be brought to hundreds of 
thousands of men, women and youth. But as we have al-
ready said this is not enough. Individual listeners will pro-
fit greatly by the message—but their instruction may not 
lead to action. The desired result will best be promoted by 
the formation of groups of listeners who hear and then dis-
cuss the broadcast; or if that is not possible during the 
morning hour, the group may listen individually m their 
own homes, make notes on the lecture and arrange for a 
meeting at a convenient hour when they will exchange their 
thought, formulate a program of action, and proceed to put 
their decisions into practice. What is desired above all else 
is that such groups of listeners include men and women spon-
sors of youth activity who plan their time and talent at the 
disposal of their parish youth organizations under the direc-
tion of their pastors. In this way their effort becomes truly 
Catholic Action, because as Our Holy Father has indicated, 
Catholic Action properly so called, is the cooperation of the 



26 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

laity in the cause of Christ under the direction of their 
bishops and the immediate leadership of their pastors. 

There are eighteen thousand Catholic Churches in the 
United States. What a wonderful fruition these youth 
broadcasts of the N. C. C. W. would have if a group were 
formed in every parish to listen to these messages, to ex-
change their thoughts—to consider the program in refer-
ence to the group of local youth; to put at the disposal of 
the pastors and of the youth of the parish, the fruits of their 
collective deliberations, and thè offer of their time and tal-
ents to sponsor youth organization and activities in their 
own communities. In large parishes several such listening 
groups could easily be formed. It is no vain hope that 20,000 
groups of youth and sponsors may get inspiration from these 
youth broadcasts and translate their deliberations into genu-
ine Catholic Action; guiding the aspirations, ideals, and ac-
tivities of hundreds of thousands of young men and women 
towards noble character, happy lives and Christian citizen-
ship. 



THE ORGANIZATION OF A YOUTH PROGRAM 27 

"Catholic Action—The Participation of the Laity 

in the Apostolate of the Hierarchy."— 

1. Is Youth work new to the Catholic Church ? 
2. Why is it especially emphasized today? 
3. Why is a nation-wide, united effort desirable? 
4. The N. C. C. W. is the approved agency for the sponsor-

ship of Girls and Young Women. Discuss its organiza-
tion plan. 

5. Explain how "participation of the laity in the apostolate 
of the hierarchy" can be enjoyed through the N. C. C. W. 

6. Distinguish between Catholic Action and Catholic Activ-

ity. 

Giuseppe Pizzardo, DD. 
N. C. W. C.—25c 

Aids to Catholic Action 
N. C. W. C.—25c 

The National Catholic Welfare Conference 
N. C. W. C.—10c 

The National Council of Catholic Women Most Rev. 

Pope Pius XI 

TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Catholic Action, Encyclical -
N. C. W. C.—10c 

Conferences on Catholic Action -

Pope Pius XI. 

Most Rev. 

Joseph F. Rummell, DD. 
N. C. C. W.—10c 

Community Organization Jesse F. Steiner 
Century Company, 35 West 32nd Street, N. Y. C. 





LEADERSHIP 

Anne Sarachon Hooley 

We have talked of some general fundamentals which 
must characterize any youth program. I hope that all have 
had an opportunity to discuss these in your small groups, to 
mull over their possibilities in the informal atmosphere of 
your own club-meeting place or your home and that you 
have perhaps touched depths of understanding or plans for 
testing these principles far beyond even the conception of 
the speaker who was privileged to present them to you. 

Undoubtedly the first question which presents itself to 
you is that of leadership. What constitutes a good leader 
and where, oh where, does one find them? If we accept a 
theory rather commonly held that leaders are a rare type 
buried deep in the recesses" of humanity and springing up 
only in a great emergency to do rare things, then indeed, 
we must be disconsolate about finding them for youth work. 
But if we accept the other theory and consider them, as 
someone says "like pipe-organs and sunsets, no two alike 
yet each in its own way serving to stimulate, to inspire, to 
draw out from all within a radius the best he has to give" 
then we can seek them more confidently and I believe more 
intelligently. If we assume that some will be brilliant and 
some quiet, some very colorful and some a little gray and 
somber, some strong enough to be heard in the far reaches 
of great assemblies, and some carrying muted tones only 
the distance of a few rods, then we have our perfect array 

of leaders. , 
The visible qualifications are, however, more difficult to 

define. It is easy to pile up requisites for a leader so high 
that we have a superman, an unusual person so well pre-
pared that we immediately question whether or not our fa-
cilities and our equipment are sufficient for him to work 
with. But the essential assets are few and simple. It would 
be ideal possibly if we could find in every leader of every 
small group, sympathy, imagination, generosity, intelligence, 
flexibility, emotional control, education, artistic talent, leis-
ure time, administrative ability, and so on ad infinitum, but 



30 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

these are not necessary just as it is not necessary for every 
group to do everything. 

Seek first the quality of innate fineness which is in its 
fullest sense, an indication of spirituality. Call it idealism 
crusadism, generosity, an understanding of the riches of the 
spirit—whatever you will. It is the thing that gives a glow 
of divinity to a person's work and it is.vitally necessary to 
the leadership of youth groups. It is the quality which de-
mands recognition for the rights of every individual great 
or small. It is the quality which impels a leader to measure 
his success by the development of the many rather than the 
brilliant showing of the few. It is the quality which safe-
guards every angle of the program automatically because 
as your leader possesses this, he or she will weigh by his 
own standards every plan suggested and will develop in his 
project a tacit measurement of values, a noblesse oblige of 
modern policies. Upon these leaders you can count to make 

your program a stabilizing influence rather than a destruc-
tive one. 

H B | H I intelligence-educated intelligence if you can 
tad it—but if not, native intelligence. I t includes judgement, 
some caution (not too much), reasonableness, an ability to 
adjust to circumstances, to make decisions fairly and with-
out raising issues, and to follow a plan which has been 
worked out m the vision of the whole. Intelligence is a qual-
ity which motivates a leader to let the individual seek her 
own method of adventure, to originate plans, and to settle 

nowe? ™ m U f d i r e c t i o n > t 0 ° superimposed 
m m i f m \ a S " r e o f s u c c e * s ¡n any group undertaking is 
the extent to which it has developed the strength of the in-
dividual parts While it may be easier in the beginning for 
a leader to rule a group by definite instructions alone it is 
on y when they themselves are initiating and acting' l a 
• • £ » 1 t h 6 l r 6 n t h u s i a s m a n d ^ e i r existence, and in 
fact that they merit the reason of their origin. An intelli-
gent leader may drop suggestions, may discourage unobtru-

thlng^'done^ S U l > S t i t U t e q u i c k l y b u t n e v e r openly order any-

Look for emotional stability. A leader must have had 
enough experience in living to have secured something which 
she can share with others. Have you ever had the expert-



LEADERSHIP 31 

ence of choosing as leader a lovely young girl—blonde, all 
peaches and cream, vivacious and charming—only to find 
with a tremendous surprise that she didn't work out? She 
was too busy placing herself, setting her own stage, getting 
an. audience, and had not, as yet, that reserve from which 
to give. Later perhaps she might do splendidly, but she had 
been chosen at the wrong time. We want leaders who are 
sensitive, who are sympathetic, who are keen to detect the 
reactions of others, who recognize in an instant when a mem-
ber of the group is hurt, is discouraged, is expressing a de-
fense, or is bullying, but we want them to be so wholesome 
in their own emotional control that they meet these situa-
tions with kindness, with firmness, with positive substitutes, 
and with a character building force that makes of the inci-
dent strength for the future man or woman. 

High in the list of characteristics would I place the qual-
ity of joyousness. A leader must be having fun at the thing 
which she is doing if it is to produce the desired results. This 
spirit creates a zest, a sporting rivalry, a give and take, a 
proper sense of values, a serenity, and a free outlet of en-
ergy but it retains the good humor and the affectionate 
laughter with and a t each other. There is always the re-
flection of great adventure and gallant pioneering in the ac-
tions of a good leader. 

Look for imagination! A leader needs imagination to 
color the meetings with variety and originality. She must 
be able to put herself figuratively in the shoes of each of 
her followers; to catch a glimpse of talent, to grasp those 
fleeting split-second reactions and use them for a foothold 
on which to build interest. The well-known story of the 
three workmen, though very very old, always seemed to me 
to illustrate this point extremely well. You remember of 
course, the tale of the stranger who, walking about a build-
ing in the process of construction said to an assistant archi-
tect who was leaning over a draftsman's board in the super-
intendent's shanty, "What are you doing?" "Checking fig-
ures," he replied curtly. Going a little further, the stranger 
stopped beside a man who was setting in place blocks of a 
gorgeous frieze to be extended around the building. "And 
what are you doing," he asked again. "Oh, fastening this 
with cement," was the bored answer. Still a little further 



32 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

on, he stopped a third man, a hod-carrier, to say: "What 
are you doing?" The man looked up, his grimy face alight 
with pride and surprise as he said, "Why, can't you see ? I'm 
building a cathedral." We need leaders whose imagination 
can stir the least talented in the group, can lead them on in 
fancy to the brilliant mosaics of the sanctuary dome and the 
jewel-studded tabernacles of the King. 

Seek if possible courage, poise, initiative, flexibility, ad-
ministrative sense, and oh! that thrice-blessed gift , a sense 
of humor. Be grateful when you find them all but know 
that only in a few cases is the complete combination possible. 
All of our work must' be and wisely so, a blending of the 
efforts of many. By this do we gain strength and learn the 
dispensation of interdependence. 

Having, by counsel with those who know them, selected 
your leaders, it is important to approach and to assign them 
in the proper attitude. The leader who is worth having 
cannot be secured by the promise that the work is not much, 
that anyone can do it, and that it makes no definite demand 
on time and effort. The leader who is worth having will be 
attracted by the thought that here is an opportunity to use 
those special gifts which she possesses, that she, probably 
better than any one else, can accomplish the objectives set 
out, and that this is a shining chance to weave into the so-
cial fabric of her day a bit of joy, of beauty, and of service. 
It is a glamorous flaming challenge to her sense of achieve-
ment, of social integration, and spiritual debt. 

Important too is the classifying and assigning of the 
leaders. Some are equipped for specific needs such as basket 
ball,,dramatics, dancing, handcrafts, costumes, nature study, 
choral clubs, riding and the myriad other tasks which may 
fall into any one of the programs. Efficiency and success 
depend somewhat upon the wisdom-with which each is as-
signed to a special interest. Do not scorn the most limited 
ability for it may be only a proving ground on which to 
build. Then too, there will always be people who have only 
one special interest, who will, in the beginning at least, 
touch the program only as it provides creative outlet for 
that single interest. The fitting-of these interests into a 
well-rounded whole is the task of the general leader. 

The volunteer leader must constantly be adding'to her 



LEADERSHIP 33 

equipment. So universal has become this tendency that sev-
eral large organizations provide regional and local training 
courses at various times throughout the year. A well-equip-
ped professional field staff makes this available to you. We 
have listed below the names of the more important organ-
izations along this line. Lastly the most important factor in 
the development and retention of good leaders is the con-
ferences. A sponsoring group or some member of it should 
be free to meet the leaders regularly, to discuss their prob-
lems, review their accomplishments, check their training, and 
show an encouraging appreciation. 

And to the leaders who are chosen for youth work 
throughout the width and the breadth of the country may I 
leave just this one word? We look upon you with admira-
tion, with confidence in the results, with gratitude for the 
achievements you are to produce, and with this wish for 
you: May you as a leader remember always the words of 
Andrea Vanni of Sienna who said, "Nobleness comes not to 
a city when the young dream no dreams of great things." 
May you yourselves so work that when at last you come to 
stand before the Great Leader you may be able to say to 
Him with gallant voice and joyful heart, "Beloved Master, I 
have been true to the gif t of leadership with which Thou 
has endowed me and I have refused to barter this gi f t for 
the will-of-the-wisp of pleasure, the tawdry bauble of society, 
the shining tinsel of wealth, or even a ribbon of glory to 
wear in my coat." 



34 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

"The Ultimate Wisdom of All Life Is Service." 

Jorgensen. 

TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. Discuss the five outstanding qualifications for Youth 
leadership. Give reasons for importance. Do vou ag ree ' 
Why? ' 

2. What other qualities should be sought? Are all these 
necessary in every leader? 

3. What appeals may be made to attract worthwhile lead-
ers ? 

4. Why should discretion be used in assigning leaders ? 
5. What helps are available for the training and improve-

ment of leaders? 
6. How have you used the N. C. C. W. Leaders' Loose-leaf 

Notebook, called "The Essential of Every Catholic 
Leader?" 

7. What aids have you found in your public library? Have 
you asked for the references suggested in the Leaders' 
Notebook ? 

8. Have you made full use of the "Call to Youth" radio 
series of leaders' training talks? .Will you watch for 
the next series? 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Christian Education of Youth, Encyclical Pope Pius XI. 
N. C. W. C.—10c 

Youth Leaders, Loose-leaf Notebook 
N. C. C. W.—$1.00 

Youth—Leadership and Catholic Action 
N. C. C. W.—25c 

Leadership in Group Work :......„_„. Dr. Henry M. Busch 
Association Press, 347 Madison Ave., N. Y. C. 





SPONSORSHIP 
Anne Sarachon Hooley 

Perhaps there is nothing in this new, slightly screwy 
age which is our present that will have so far-reaching an 
effect upon youth of this and the coming decade as the "new 
leisure." Leaders of social thought and action have battled 
unceasingly for the shorter work week. By this means they 
hoped to solve many economic problems, but always they 
had uppermost in their minds the bringing to society of a 
more abundant life. However f a r from ideal the current sit-
uation may be, we do know that a greatly increased leisure 
is distinctly established in America. In addition, the num-
erous modern labor-saving devices, the increased speed of 
transportation, and the myriad facilities for quickening the 
tempo of living have brought to us a freedom,-new and un-
tried. 

And so what? I am reminded of the story of the Euro-
pean visitor who was being shown the wonders of New York 
City. His host took him through the new Shuttle subway 
which had just been built at a cost of several millions for 
the convenience of crosstown traffic, thus enabling passen-
gers to avoid the doubling back that had been formerly 
necessary. Arriving at Grand Central station, the New 
Yorker looked a t his watch, and glowing with pride, said, 
I s n t this wonderful? We have saved exactly two minutes 

and thirty-nine seconds over the old way." The visitor 
slightly puzzled, answered, "It is indeed remarkable—but-^ 
ah—er—what are we going to do now with that two min-
utes and thirty-nine seconds?" 

What will be done with this new leisure? Must it, for 
want of constructive thinking, peter out into mere idleness 
with all the destruction that idleness carries in its wake? 
Surely not. Surely, the vision and the national planning of 
a people who produced it must also produce safeguards and 
securities to guarantee its positive and richer use. 

Oddly enough the very age that brought us' increased 
leisure has brought us physical conditions in living which 
make it more difficult to use that leisure in the former sim-



SPONSORSHIP 37 

pie natural ways. Only a brief generation ago, boys and 
girls grew up in cities and small towns where many homes 
possessed spacious porches almost roomy enough for bad-
minton, yards, even a tennis court, gardens, and barns. Huge 
attics with all their fascinating debris were good for a few 
hours' amusement any. rainy day. Tree-lined streets were 
unmolested' by traffic for hours at a time. Dogs and horses 
and pets of various kinds were not a luxury. Vacant lots 
for ball, streams for fishing, and woods to be explored in 
those first spring days were comparatively adjacent to the 
majority of homes. Families, and particularly girls, remain-
ed longer at home so that social contacts were of some stand-
ing. Neighborliness was more common, not because of the 
disposition of people, but because physical conditions and so-
cial customs made it easier. 

Today f a r more than half the world lives (and from this 
I exclude the tenement and slum residents, because to some 
of them, unhappily, we must apply the term exist) more 
than half lives in small dwellings built close together, or in 
attached houses, or in apartments, ranging from the kit-
chenette to the roomy full floor. It is difficult to picture the 
average apartment housing with much harmony a workshop 
such as I remember, that contained a printing press and sev-
eral other equally bulky and disreputable looking objects. 
Most of those earlier forms of spending leisure are not ac-
cessible in the homes of today because of space and arrange-
ment. Even casual parties of any size are impossible to 
many houses. 

This is the influence which has turned youth to artificial 
amusements and commercial recreation—very plainly not 
satisfying as a steady diet to those, wholesome stimulating 
desires that are a part of youth's charm and its enthusiasm. 
But with characteristic tolerance, they have accepted it, 
plunged whole-heartedly into its indulgence, and only when 
boredom and restlessness overcome them completely do they 
question its nature. 

Concurrently with this development, there has gradually 
arisen a new type of youth program built around the par-
ish or the community center. It is not intended to substitute 
for the home and the riches of training which only that home 
can give, but it is a substitute for Undesirable misdirected 



38 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

recreation and a supplement to the home where crowded 
space and physical conditions make it impossible to enjoy 
that interchange of gracious social life once very commonly 
known to all. I t offers all the allure and the attractiveness 
of harmful . recreation under conditions which make it 
wholesome and lasting and valuable. The parish and the 
neighborhood house are natural centers of activity because 
there already exists a common interest, possibly even an 
acquaintanceship and a convenience of location. All fields of 
recreation have within very recent times contributed to the 
development of these programs. The National Conference of 
Social Work for more than two years has had a group work 
section. Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts have celebrated mile-
stones in their progress just this year. The National Council 
of Catholic Women has placed in the field a splendidly train-
ed worker to organize and coordinate youth programs in the 
parish. 

Scranton, Pennsylvania, recently staged a Youth Rally 
where upwards of five thousand leaders and youth themselves 
came together in the Town Hall at the end of one year's dio-
cesan-wide experience with this program to testify their en-
thusiasm, their loyalty, and their eagerness for its continu-
ance. In this stunning assemblage, consisting of the three 
age levels into which division is usually made, there was suf-
ficient evidence of radiant fun, of cultural and spiritual in-
terest to encourage anyone possessing the slightest doubt. 
Problems of how they should plan activities, secure equip-
ment, meeting places, a camp and the like seem to be work-
ing out very practically under generous volunteer leadership. 

With this program has come the sponsoring group and 
the adult committee of men and women. A few years ago at 
one of the meetings called to inaugurate emergency govern-
ment programs, a man who has since risen to a very high 
place in the administration of public welfare addressed this 
remark to the professional workers and trained leaders pres-
ent, "Be careful from the very beginning of all this develop-
ment to take with you in your progress your Board of Direc-
tors and your volunteer workers. You need their backing, 
their financial support, and that unselfish civic and moral in-
terest which has prompted them to concern themselves about 
the happiness of their fellow men." But in the sponsoring 



SPONSORSHIP 39 

groups for youth there is found such real enjoyment, such 
renewed enthusiasms, and constant cooperation that they find 
themselves too carried away in the. thrill of its adventure. 
They are necessary to the smooth-running, and the wise as-
sistance, as well as to the financial support. 

Youth has been borni into the household of the King. It 
is entitled to be a guest at His banquet table and to wear 
happily His royal coat-of-arms. Just so long as conditions 
are such that it is in danger of losing this heritage in the 
streets and alleys, in the public meeting places, or the cor-
ner drug-stores of the beloved city which you call Home, just 
so long is there need for your interest in the parish or 
neighborhood center where the strength and the beauty of 
Youth is salvaged for his own complete happiness and the 
enrichment of that society to which he belongs. 



40 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

"For Him, Who Gives All" 

TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 

K What is meant by "New leisure?" To what use do the 
youth of your parish put their leisure time ? 

2. Discuss commercial recreation vs. privately sponsored 
activities; spectatoritis vs. active participation. 

3. Why are our parishes ideal community centers? 
4. No program will be effective LONG without adult spon-

sorship of a high type. How can we interest and hold 
more fine sponsors and leaders? 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The Proceedings 1936 Convention National Council 

Catholic Women 
N. C. C. W.—$1.00 

The Parish and Play Dr. Paul Hanly Furfey 
Benziger Bros., 429 Main St., Cincinnati, Ohio—$1.50 

Parish Activities Publications ' Rev. George M. Nell 
Effingham, Illinois 

Youth—How Communities Can Help Committee on 
Youth Problems 

Youth—Community Surveys .. Committee on Youth Problems 
Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C.—10c each 





THE VICTORY OF YOUTH 
Anne Sarachon Hooley 

At the turn of the new century, there began in America 
a changing trend, traceable from this point, first in the non-
essentials and later in the essences of living. Nowhere are 
its tendencies so clearly seen as among youth and the cus-
toms and the thinking of youth. Recreation began to evi-
dence a wholesome freedom, conventions changed, and with 
them the names and the jargon of conventions. A commen-
tator of that day writing on girls and sports, said this: "The 
more daring of the young women are forsaking the game of 
croquet for a boisterous and somewhat dangerous sport 
known as tennis." Fancy what that commentator might have 
thought last week, could he have glanced at the news col-
umn of a metropolitan daily to see that a woman aviator, 
crashing on the take-off of a round-the-world tour, had es-
caped injury. 

Fashion in dress, fashion in dancing, fashion in manners 
if you please, began to show the influence of a certain new 
independence in youth, and society became conscious that 
the Gay Nineties, typical in dress and in morals, were left 
behind. The faint expressions on vocational guidance pointed 
the way to a change in educational methods. The liberaliz-
ing of the professions, the opening of varied careers, as well 
as wider industrial employment for girls, presented to youth 
a whole new angle with all the accompanying situations. But 
suddenly this youth was caught in the machinery of the 
World War, from which it was to emerge, not youth, but men 
and women. 

While the world was learning those two great lessons 
of war—the agony of waiting and the horror of the battle-
field, society was forming new concepts and new customs. 
Surrounded by the grimmest of tragedies, the minor issues 
of conventional barriers, of prohibitions on public conduct, 
of finer distinctions seemed to fade into comparative unim-
portance and the newer freedom in recreation, in thought, 
and in living as a whole was on its way. The toll of war 
youth was taken through loss of life, through broken bodies, 
and through that mental sobering which came t)Q the pep-



THE VICTORY OF YOUTH 43 

pies of the world, but a new youth interested only in the 
world of 1920 with its privileges and its excitement was 
among us. With their natural resilience, they threw off the 
memory of sorrow and conflict, but they retained the direct-
ness and the liberties which that conflict had brought to 
them. 

And for the benefit of this youth, the world staged its 
stark-mad, raving drama of the post-war period. Simple 
living became a rarity when luxury was within the reach of 
many. Inflated prices and over-night fortunes brought an 
orgy of spending and affluence. Speed in transportation, in 
achievement, and in every other phase of action constantly 
drove us on. Hectic with its own power, and restless for 
amusement, society began, at first to tolerate, and then to 
accept without protest a looseness of living. Rugged individ-
ualism in industry, experimental education, rampant legisla-
tion, all made their imprint. Across the gamut of extremes^ 
ran fashions and sports and customs, ah yes, even morals. 
But suddenly the youth of this day too was caught in the 
machinery of the world depression, from which it was to 
emerge not youth, but men and women. 

Likewise the depression took its toll and brought its 
compensations. The old securities had vanished in the night 
and half-gods failed us as the human half-gods always must. 
Boys and girls passed from the ages of ten to fifteen without 
having known a mouthful of food or a night's shelter that 
was not provided by public charity. Just as youth had reach-
ed the ultimate of freedom, that social order which had tend-
ered this license, withdrew it, almost instantaneously. And 
only those who saw the cock-sure, reckless lad, could know 
the temper of the bitter, frightened boy who tramped the 
road alone. 

That youth has gone, and once again another youth, in-
terested only in the world of 1937 with its privileges, its chal-
lenge, and its thrilling zest is among us. I t comes of age in 
a world which has evolved under the hands of those other 
generations, in a world which has tried to banish the phil-
osophy of Christ and the culture of Christ. I t comes into a 
world disrupted by an economic and social disorder, where 
the pendulum of thought and standards swings far from the 
side of discipline to the extreme of unrestraint. Few of the 



44 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

old guide-posts are left standing and none of the protective 
conventions. More than ever before in the years that we 
have just traced, the burden of living and living abundantly 
has been placed upon youth itself. 

Brittle and artificial pleasures are so much more acces-
sible than the genuine ones. Even in education, there is a 
tendency to remove the contest, the struggle for awards, and 
leave the impetus for the student himself to furnish. 

But Youth, like the Resurrection, is a pledge of our 
eternalness, an earnest of the immortality of the Spirit. 
With each succeeding generation there comes a legion of 
youth, clad in its shining armor of courage, of joy, of gal-
lantry, with hope and vision and romance. Yet history and 
all its endless data of failure and discouragement has never 
dimmed the courage of a youth, for that is his, a part and 
parcel of his youngness. It is the faith which keeps his 
candles lighted night and day so that he makes his own 
achievement and his contribution to the progress of that 
world in which he finds himself a part. It gives him daring 
for he knows so little of the dangers that he sees no risk. I t 
gives him generosity because he does not fear ta lavish all 
he has upon the moment's need, whether it be of energy or 
time, or deep affection. 

And youth has gallantry. Although today a flippant 
phrase, a casualness is often used to hide it, there is inher-
ent still a deep respect for gallantry. They call it sport-
ing, fair, good going, and the like, but it is only just their 
tacit recognition of the qualities of honesty and kindness to-
ward one's fellow-men. It is the quality which sends them 
tilting wind-mills, waving banners, and marching in the in-
terests of the under-dog. No Spartan youth has ever played 
the game at greater cost of pride and effort than our young-
ster of today and he will turn away the praise or lauding 
with a single phrase, "Oh, skip it." 

And youth of every age possesses joy, a joy that comes 
from care-free hearts which is their due. So bubbling and 
deep-rooted is this joy, that only the tiniest thing is needed, 
like tinder for the spark to make it burst forth in a merry 
giggle or the rippling laughter tumbling, rushing out to give 
expression to a joyous thought. It 's made of star-dust, an-
gel's wings, perhaps, but we have come to think of it in love-



THE VICTORY OF YOUTH 45 

ly terms "as happy as a child." As the years go on, this 
joy should not be dulled, but only ripened, softened, and ma-
tured into a richer deep serenity. 

Now, as we stand today on Easter Saturday, there is be-
hind us in the hours just passed the mournful story of the 
Passion and the Cross; but here before us in the Easter sun-
light of tomorrow's morning, there lies the triumph and the 
glory of His Resurrection Day. All life must come into its 
morning through the night; all life must sorrow through the 
Passion ere it comes to know the splendor and the brilliant 
sunshine of its Easter morn. 

If this youth with all its courage and its joy and gal-
lantry must some day walk into the darkness of the night, 
you who plan its program of recreation, and work, and study 
must so build that it can walk with dignity. In the stone 
flooring of an old cathedral in Jamaica, there is carved this 
verse: 

He fears to die who has not learned to live, 
Nor can he live who has not thought to die. 

So in the glory and strength of the Resurrection, youth 
must find the lode-star of the Passion. If he is to walk with 
grace and dignity, he cannot slow his step with indolence, 
nor deaden his strength with license and undue indulgence. 
All he builds and loves and thrills to, must help him in the 
hour just before the dawn. Then you who lead and spon-
sor, all must see that in the rough and tumble of the play, 
in laughter, work, in music or in art, there is a thing that 
helps this boy or girl one day "to bear the Cross in the same 
serene dignity with which he wears the garlands of the 
years." 

Tomorrow, as once again we complete the drama of the 
ages, as the organ swells into its hymn of praise, the choir 
bursts forth with its Gloria and its triple Alleluias, and all 
of nature decks herself to honor and to crown the Risen King, 
may you remember that as you hope to give to youth the 
serenity, the joy, and the respect for work learned in the 
home at Nazareth, and an understanding of Calvary, you will 
also without fail bring to them the sheer happiness, the peal-
ing bells, the glorious fulfillment, and the victory of the Re-
surrection morning. 



46 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

"Rejoice, O Young Man, In Thy Youth."—Old 

Testament. 

TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. Discuss changing recreational trends in America, causes 
and results. 

2. What characteristics of Youth aid him in facing world 
problems ? 

3. How can Youth leaders better aid youth to conquer in 
"Christ's name?" 

4. Discuss ways of keeping Catholic ideals and standards 
high and effective. 

5. How may we better weave through our programs the im-
print of Christ the King ? 

6. Do you use the PRAYER FOR YOUTH, given in the 
Notebook, to open your meetings? Discuss how this 
prayer embodies our aims and ideals. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Union in Christ Right Reverend John J. Burke, C. S. P. 
N. C. C. W.—25c 

Training the Adolescent Reverend R. McCarthy, S. J . 
Bruce Publishing Co., 524 N.Milwaukee St., Milwaukee—$2.50 
Psychology of Adolescence Fowler D. Brooks 

Houghton-Mifflin Co., 386 Fourth Ave., N. Y. C. 
Psychology of Character Rudolph Allers 
Sheed and Ward, 63 Fif th Ave., N. Y. C.—$4; $2 (abridged) 
Publications—Committee on Youth Problems. 
Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C.—10c each 





OUT-OF-DOOR RECREATION 
Anne Sarachon Hooley and 

Alice Conway Carney 

The field of recreation, which we are now discussing, 
falls primarily into three divisions—parties, ranging from 
dancing to bingo, athletics, organized and unorganized, and 
outdoor recreation, ranging from winter hiking to summer 
camping. 

Inasmuch as we are today in New York, and near the 
national staff of the Girl Scout organization, which, with 
its twenty-five years of experience behind it, can present to 
us authoritative and understanding comments on all phases 
of camping not only summer camps, which many of you may 
be considering, but week-end trips, hiking, gypsy trips by 
car or on horseback, I thought we would take that field first. 
I am happy to be able to say that the answers to today's 
questions will be made by Mrs. Alice Conway Carney, Na-
tional Community Organizer of the Girl Scouts. 

Question: Mrs. Carney, will you tell us something of 
the camping experiences of your organization and why they 
stress this so in their program? 

Answer: There are some very obvious reasons why 
camping is good for anybody. It means fresh air, exercise, 
and the sense of freedom that comes with simple living. 
Sleeping under the stars gives any girl a better conception 
of the space in which her small world swings. The quiet of 
the woods gives her a better perspective on the complex so-
ciety, of which she is a part. She comes back from her camp-
ing with better lungs, better nerves and better mental bal-
ance. 

Question: Might not that be true of any girl who lived 
in the open, whether she was in camp or not? What is it 
that camp life—the organized life that is set up in a per-
manent summer camp for example, gives to the camper? 

Answer: That is the matter which concerns educators 
and psychologists today. Before I go into further detail on 
this subject, let me explain that our camping covers three 
distinct groups, the very young, the medium age of ten to 



OUT-OF-DOOR RECREATION 49 

fourteen, and the older girl. Naturally, the program has to 
be differentiated to suit the various age groups. I shall tell 
a 1 ittle fater some types of camps we have for older girls 
w h S wouid b e l t of the question for their juniors Firs 
let me speak of camp life in general from the educator's point 
of Sew This is an era of what is popularly called group 
H Of course, people lived in groups always. The fam-
ily was a g r o u p - i t was bound by blood ties and common in-
terests which were themselves a sort of solvent of difficul-
B H 1 irritant at times, I suppose. Anyway there it 
w a T a solid economic unit. Today the family is not the only 
H I Increasingly, people today must be trained to live, not 
• their brothers and sisters only, but with other peop e 
whom they hardly know. Most of us in our various fields of 
work do just that for the greater part of each day. 

Camping is a preparation for life. Its mam claim is that 
it helps a gM to develop her individuality, while at the same 
ime it shows her how to live, work and play with others. 

Now let us go back to our camp. Mass camping is now 
giving way to a system of small units that do their own bud-
geting and buying and cooking, and organize their own play. 
The counsellors act as advisors, not dictators m the small 
group. These units in our camps meet one another from time 
to time at camp fires, or swimming, or crafts. Sometimes 
all these units of the whole camp put on a Play or go on a 
top, or otherwise act as a large single unit. All the living 
is organized in groups, some larger, some smaller. You can 
see what a preparation for today's society that is. 

Then there is another thing about camp. Girls are in it 
for days at a time. They don't leave it to go to school, or 
to work, as they do in their own homes. They are tjiere all 
the time, morning, noon and night. The result is that, as f a r 
as their personality is concerned, they are practically under 
a microscope. The type, if one may call it that, to which each 
girl belongs, is obvious to a keen director from the start. 
And it is the director's job to see that each girl gets the best 
for herself out of the group living. The shy girl, the reces-
sive type as she is called now, is the girl who is likely to 
suffer most in a large group, to be left out of things or over-
looked. In the unit system of camping this is less likely to 
happen. The program is so varied that there is something 



50 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

in it for every girl. Each gets her chance to shine as cook or 
poet, as athlete or nature student, as painter, musician, or 
playwright. But no one shines at the expense of any one 
else, and each girl must take her turn at camp chores as well 
as at camp games and pleasures. 

Question: You mentioned week-end camping. That is 
within the reach of so many groups to whom the summer 
camp is not available. What do you think of its attractive-
ness ? 

Answer: I wish I could tell you how enjoyable a week-
end can be at camp, but I am not a poet. So you must vis-
ualize for yourself what it means to sit on a cool evening 
about a well-built campfire with a congenial group, chatting, 
singing, telling stories, playing games. Everyone is intent 
on exactly the same thing—how to have and give the best 
possible v time. In other words, they are creators of their 
own good times—they are participants, not onlookers. There 
may be, at times, silence all around except for an occasional 
rustle of leaves. The quiet, the peace, the relaxation of taut 
nerves—you just can't get it any other way. And when any-
one feels like it, she slips off to a single tent and into bed. 
No bus to catch. Sleep in peace. Wake up in sweet air to 
the sound of bird calls. There is nothing like it, even for a 
time as short as a week-end. 

Question: I know, it makes even New York sound pret-
ty dull, doesn't i t? What about the older girl? 

Answer: Yes, there are the Mariners, who go to sea, 
sail their own ships, become able seamen, and "old salts" in 
regular sailor style. On land, too, older girls may find ad-
ventures. There are pack trips in the Southwest, when a 
group of campers goes off over the Guadalupe Mountains, 
sleeping at night on the trail and bringing their food along 
in chuck wagons. Ten days, at a time they live as the cow-
boys do, and like it. Others go into the mountains of New 
Hampshire, pitch their tents near a spring, close to Jeffer-
son Notch, and spend their days climbing Mount Washing-
ton. Girls and their leaders share these adventures togeth-
er. Of course, several grown-ups join these trips with their 
younger sisters. 

Perhaps the most exciting camping trip of all, though 
was one that a group of older girls from Falmouth, Massa-



OUT-OF-DOOR RECREATION 51 

f l B vear They covered 11,585 miles, saw 

w m m I I m m m i s i 
spending altogether eighty-one K 
i n umbrella t - t s ^ c a = coleg * o n e s | 
had icy dips n ^ « e r Natwnai ^ farmers in municipal svnmmmg po^s^ They s ^ ^ | ^ | | g 

the drought belt o± the uaKo everywhere. What 
Oyarks cowboys in Utah, and Girl bcouts eveiyw 
S t S y get out of that? One of them summed it u p - We 
brought back an herbarium and a new horizon. 

Question: Well, these girls are no tourists, trying to 
T h ' s e e m like keen-eyed, keen-witted, self-

T a n t S who - S e s t e d in everything that happens 
i l l l l U them, making daily life an adventure. 

Answer: Yes, a mental, moral, and at times a spiritual 

adventure! 
Question: Tell me, Mrs. Carney, are the hiking clubs 

growing in popularity? 
Answer- Yes, particularly for the city-bred girl. On 

holidavs she will join an interesting group of young men 
and women, t ike a conveyance to the city limits, and there 
I r t o™ o ; a day's adventure in the open, stopping at noon 

to cook and chat. 
Question: Then there are the horseback trips you men-

tioned. Tell us something of that. 
Answer: This, to me, is the most 

outdoor activities. Such a trip ranges from ew hours 
ride over the hills to an all-day trip, .a w e e k - e n d trip, and 
most exciting of all, the ten-day pack trip I mentioned be-
fore But needless 8 say, this is done more frequently out-
side our great metropolitan areas, because in such areas, 
riding remains a luxury enjoyed by the few. 

Camping, hiking, r id ing-al l forms of outdoor living are 
weaving themselves into the lives of our young people and 
before long, we will all accept them as an essential part of 
a young person's education. We must seek to keep our 
camps from becoming .sterotyped-from becommg nst tu-
tions that have been transplanted to the woods. This great 
emphasis on life in the open is an attempt to recapture 



62 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

something of the simplicity and adventure of a less sophis-
ticated era than our own. sopms-

Miss Hooley: 

c a m e T m v I E M S p e a k i n g j u s t n o w there came to my mind, an occasion on which I H E A R D T „ 
whose father played the part of the « S ^ S f i E 
P ay at Oberammergau say that even as a g r o w boy his 

anUd b i r S r m i h t h e ° f * ™ l k ^ 
HP W " r

 f a i h e r ' m o t h e r ' and the entire family together 

to t h T v " L ^ e k r e g r e t f t y ° £ t h C C ° m i n g o f - tomobHes 
to the village. Ih is is within the reach of all 0f our vouth 
groups, this type of outdoor recreation in some K f i B c S 
other and it will, I k n 0 w , form a part of t h T s p ^ Z 
summer planning; spring and 



OUT-OF-DOOR RECREATION 63 

"The Trees Were God's First Temples."—William 

Cullen Bryant. 

TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 

1 Discuss values of out-of-door vs. indoor recreations. 
2. Why is camping one of the most valuable of recreations? 

3. Discuss mass camping vs. unit camping. 
4. How can day camping and hiking play a real part in 

your Youth program? 
5. Discuss the possibility of MORE out-of-door meetings. 

Isn't the accusation that recreation has become a "shut-
in" all too true? 

6. How can you awaken in those you lead a greater appre-
ciation of God's handiwork—the out-of-doors? 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

A book of Nature poems Pick your own, or better 
collect your own. 

Youth Leaders' Loose-leaf Notebook. 
N. C. C. W.—$1.00 , 

Girl Scout Publications Girl Scouts, Inc. 
570 Lexington Ave., N. Y. C. 

The Girls' Camp - A b b i e Graham 
The Women's Press, 600 Lexington, N. Y. C. 

God's Amazing World - Dr. Tikamer Toth 
Translated by Stephen Chapkovich 
P. J. Kenedy and Sons, N. Y. C. 

Camping Out - L- H - W e i r 

Prepared for National Recreation Association by 
Macmillan Company, 60 Fif th Ave., N. Y. C. 





PLAY-DAYS-SPORTS 

Anne Sarachon Hooley 

No other phase of a purely recreational program offers 
such possibilities for character building and the attornment 
of those assets which constitute lasting value for the man 
and the woman that is to be, as does athletics Sports are 
insidious in a favorable sense of the word, because their 
worth can be gained under the most happy circumstances. 
What would be tedious and irksome as work or exercise is a 
game with all the joy and the challenge of a game. It is 
the abuse only of sports to which criticism is directed To 
make athletics the sole factor of a program, to confine it to 
a few, to make conditions such that the vast majority are 
mere spectators, to consider the physical as the be-all and 
the end-all rather than in its proper p ropor t ion- these 
things may easily blind sincere and thinking people to the 

true worth of sports. . , . . 
A phrase used by the ancients, "a sound mind m a sound 

body," suggests very concisely that athletics is a vital posi-
tive building force in the development of the complete man 
which is the purpose,» both of recreation and of education. 
Scientific data is not lacking to prove that for ^the growing 
boy or girl we must furnish many physical aids. At tnis 
stage, there is need for intensifying muscular training so 
that those muscles may respond readily to the dictates of the 
will A precision of muscular coordination, grace, poise, en-
durance, and the outward indications of vitality so necessary 
to a pleasing appearance are all only physical signs of the 

V a l UToday, there is another phrase, expressive of modern 
youthful philosophy, but equally pregnant with w i s d o m -
"playing the game." I t embraces all the chivalry of the 
Knights of the Round Table, loyalty,'justice, square dealing, 
and those many things which are indicative of proper ad-
justment to human relationships. The adolescent must learn 
these lessons if he would live life fruitfully, and he learns 
them most easily in the field of sports. Here is competition, 
strife, ambition, pitting of skills, and the incentive to excel, 



56 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

but all in social surrounding so that there must be a give 
and take, a respect for the rights and the superiorities of 
others. That philosophy which implies, an ability to do one's 
part, great or small, to work quietly and unknown for the 
accomplishment of a great ideal is taught in a practical 
manner through the team work of good athletics. 

Turning to the negative side, sports is a means of avert-
ing one of the greatest dangers which beset the adolescent 
and post-adolescent period. Youth, by its very nature, pos-
sesses an excess of energy, a great supply of sheer animal 
spirits for which it must find an outlet. To externalize this 
wholesomely, is to guard against these dangers, to nullify 
them to such an extent that they become on the contrary, a 
normal active building force. The findings of the Crime Com-
mission only put into proved data and recommendations a 
fact which has been known for some time past by all stu-
dents of this problem. 

Not long ago, Birmingham, Alabama, was in the pro-
cess of organizing a splendid group program when the able 
president received this letter from a hardened life-termer in 
Kilby Prison. He wrote, "I have read in the papers of your 
work with youth and I write to wish you well, because I am 
thinking tonight of how different it might have been for me 
if as a boy, I had spent my evenings with one of these clubs 
rather than in a nearby drug-store, hearing from older men 
the lessons of crime which I learned all too well." 

In the down-town district of one of our midwestern cit-
ies, there is a small park known as Mulkey Square. Some 
years ago a gang of bad boys was wont to gather there and 
frequently were joined by new members, who, seeking diver-
sion for their idle time, were trained in the ways of petty 
thievery which inevitably led for some into more serious of-
fenses against the law. Not long ago in that city, a young 
man of 22 was sentenced to a penitentiary term for some 
crime, and as he left the courtroom, he was heard to mutter, 

Damn Mulkey Square." In those three words, he acknowl-
edged the origin of, and the rebellion against his downfall. 

The CYO in the great cities of Chicago, New York, Hart-

g » , W a y n e h ,a v e- m m vision, substituted 
the lure of the boxing gloves and the baseball bat for the en-



PLAY-DAYS—SPORTS 57 

ticements of crime which may be found in any congested dis-
trict They have extended a friendly hand to the boy from 
the city streets or the careless home, and catching his fancy, 
through the glamor of a sport, builded him to face the world 
with his head held high, confident of that manhood which is 
his birthright. 

Yet it must be remembered that sports for large num-
bers of youth, without regard for plan and conditions, will 
not bring about all these desirable results. It requires intel-
ligent adult leadership with serious consideration of all the 
factors that produce successful enjoyment of athletics. What 
is splendid for an eighteen year old boy will hold neither sus-
tained interest nor constructive good for the twelve-year-old. 
Conditions which would be excellent for boys, might be un-
desirable for girls. 

And this is a point which should constantly engage the 
attention of all those concerned with recreational leadership. 
Constitutionally, girls have certain physical and physiologi-
cal differences, so that only in small numbers do they even 
want the same type of competitive games as do boys. In the 
first place, girls should be required to present a physician s 
certificate before entering into group sports, and this first re-
quirement may well be followed by a system of supervision 
to insure a reasonable and sane attitude toward the amount 
and time of activity. Active games require loose-fitting, light 
weight dress for girls as well as boys, but in our time when 
designers offer attractive, practical, and suitable styles, the 
question of "costume may be settled by the group itself if, 
through a sponsoring committee, they have developed a taste 
and a standard. Again, it is the wise guidance of a leader, 
not a Boss. Rules should be adapted to the needs of girls, 
both individually, taking into consideration their interests 
and experiences, and racially taking into consideration their 
feminine charm and motherhood. Women leaders and 
coaches are better qualified as a whole to promote such a 
program, and to assume the responsibility for its administra-
tion. 

The greatest safeguard in all this plan of athletics for 
girls is to stress sport for the joy of playing, the develop-
ment of good sportsmanship, and the release of energy, as 
well as the attainment of those advantages mentioned be-



58 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

fore, such as muscular coordination, health, and grace. This 
eliminates at once the dangers of breaking records, of win-
ning championships, of overstrain with its resulting disast-
ers. I t is apt to secure also the participation of the many 
rather than the familiar sight of a few playing a game 
which requires technical skill and a larger number joining 
only as spectators. 

The program which is deeply concerned with the great-
est good to the individual rather than publicity will empha-
size those sports which have a carry-over value—that is, 
games which may be played in later life. The saying, "Tell 
me what a person does with her leisure, and I shall tell you 
what she is," cannot be taken too literally for often a girl 
does with her leisure the things she knows how to do. So 
that if she acquires through contact with a group, a certain 
passing skill in tennis, swimming, badminton, horse-back rid-
ing, golf, or one of several other games which may be avail-
able in different communities, she carries them over into 
later life, finding in them the relaxation, the health-building, 
and the joy necessary to the satisfactory use of her leisure 
time. We should all be loathe to admit that the movies and 
the commercially-sponsored dance are at all adequate to fill 
completely the recreational hours of any girl, and yet unless 
we place other means within her horizon, she is seldom equip-
ped to seek them herself. 

We now leave the discussion of recreational topics to 
continue with other divisions of our general subject. Leaving 
it, however,'we leave with you pictures of youth at p l a y -
thrilling matches in the great cities; for the smaller towns, 
play-days and community nights in the parish hall or the 
vacant building converted to this use by fertile minds; pack-
trips in the gorgeous Rockies; week-end camping and grand 
hikes in the Ozarks or the Adirondacks, or the shimmering 
golden autumn of the midwestern plains; clam-bakes on the 
shore; swimming in lakes, and pools, and streams, and in the 
surf; picnics from the Atlantic to the Pacific; dances and 
glad parties everywhere—pictures all of rollicking, stunning, 
happy fun. And to the leaders, I leave the stimulus and 
the inspiration that through these games, you may have de-
stroyed forever the haunting tragic ghosts of the boy or girl 
who «light have been. 



PLAY-DAY—SPORTS 59 

"A Sport for Every Girl—Every Girl in a Sport." 

—.N. A. A. F. 

• TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 

| What part does athletics play in your program? 
2. Discuss the N. C. C. W. policies on Girls' Athletics. 

3. Why is it essential that the girls' program be spon-
sored and led by. women ? 

4. What is meant by "Carry-over" sports? Why are these 
more important than the highly technical games that 
can be played for so short a time with so few, like train-
ed people ? , . n * 5 . H a v e you had a play day this year? A play night? A 

community night? 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Youth Leaders' Loose-leaf Notebook. 

N. C. C. W.—$1.00 
Youth—Today and Tomorrow 

N. C. C. W—25c 
Publications National Amateur Athletic Federation 

303 West 42nd St., N. Y. C. 
Recreation for Girls and Women Ethel M Bowers 

Prepared for National Recreation Association by 
A. S. Barnes Co., 67 W. 44th St., N. Y. C.—$3.00 

Games and Recreational Methods Charles F. Smith 
Dodd, Mead and Co., 443 Fourth Ave., N. Y. C.—$2.50 

Handbook for Recreation Leaders Children's Bureau 
U. S, Dept. Labor, Washington, D. C.—20c 

Good Times for All Times Nina B. Lamkin 
Samuel French, 25 W. 45th St., N. Y. C.—$2.50 





YOUTH NEEDS BEAUTY 
Anne Sarachon Hooley 

The story is told that during the Revolution in Brittany, 
a Revolutionist said to one of the peasants, "We will tear 
the belfries from your churches so that you may not even 
see them from the countryside." And the Breton peasant 
with the serenity that only faith can produce, answered, "Ah 
but you cannot tear the stars from the skies and they will 
shine for us far into the darkness of the night to prove that 
all is still well." Likewise, the world of today has attempted 
to blot out from the vision of youth, the towering spires of 
beauty. It has offered them the current cinema with its 
stories of crime and licentiousness and shallow, brittle liv-
ing. It has heaped upon their newsstands and on their book 
shelves a vast array of suggestive sensational reading mat-
ter which passes under the name of literature, stuff which 
must bring a stab of shame to the Creator of the beauties of 
the written word. Under the name of freedom and of mod-
ernism, it has offered them standards of morality as old as 
the fleshpots of the pagans. 

A few educational institutions have placed before them 
the ancient fallacies dressed up in catchy modern language, 
hoping thus to ensnare them through their love of newness 
and progress. Classrooms which may become so easily a 
laboratory rather than a building ground too often treat 
youth as guinea pigs to be dissected and experimented upon. 
Propagandists offer them day in and day out communism, 
materialism, and war. In answer to Youth's love of adven-
ture, the world offers vicarious thrills; in answer to their 
love of justice, it offers class hatred and revolution and the 
destruction of their democratic government; in answer to 
their patriotism and their heroism, it offers the preying mon-
ster, War. But youth, standing at the crest of the hill, fair-
haired and clear-eyed flings back the challenge, "You may 
come to us with all your wares arrayed in the most enticing 
manner, but we shall be wary of our purchase, for we have 
a measuring rod with which to determine the false from the 



62 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

true, the sham from the real, and the tawdry from the love-
ly. We have our test of beauty." To help them in forming 
this test is the task of youth leaders, and one of the places 
where it is most easily done is through the cultural stand-
ards. 

Youth is a time of extremes with a language of superla-
tives, and the most exacting of all ages. This is the quality 
which drives them to seek championships, to break records, 
and to achieve those heights inhabited only by the few. That 
angle of education and character development which centers 
about awards and merits plays upon, (and wisely for the 
most part,) the desires which this quality produces. Study 
the slang of youth, the popular songs of youth, and you will 
find them abundant with the most fantastic extremes, glow-
ing, extravagant, super. And so youth demands that beauty 
have perfection, but there are many faces to perfection, many 
interpretations. 

You will remember the story of the Florentine painter, 
who, at the height of his popularity was entertained one 
night in the palace of an Italian nobleman. He had been 
dined and feted, and toasted until he had grown weary of 
the adulation. Finally his host arose, and after a long per-
oration, concluded with this remark, "So great an artist is 
this man that he can sit here at the table and in a few mo-
ments sketch off a great picture. I have prepared an easel 
in order that tonight for you my guests he may draw a mas-
terpiece to celebrate the occasion." 

The guest of honor, irked a bit by the situation, seized 
a crayon and drew quickly but deftly upon the canvas a 
circle. But the guests murmured among themselves in dis-
dain, and the host in his chagrin cried out, "You mock usJ 
We are no yokels. This is not art, but an insult." The artist 
quietly asked for a ruler, and with the ease of a master, 
measured the drawing to show that it was exactly the same 
in every diameter. But yet they spoke with contempt, shout-
ing in anger, "That is nothing. He is a fraud." The artist 
rising also in anger shouted back, "That is nothing? That 
is a perfect circle. I defy you to find in all of Italy or 
France another man who can draw a perfect circle with one 
stroke of the crayon. Perfection is beauty, and beauty is 
art." 



YOUTH NEEDS BEAUTY 63 

When youth demand perfection, give them truth, for 
truth is beauty. I t holds no flaw, it b r o o k s no error at ad 
mits no compromise: and down through all the changmg 
ceaseless years it never once has failed to satisfy the hungry 
heart, the strained ambition, nor the seeker for the heights 

And beauty must be lasting, for it should stand all tests 
of strength and power. It must be genuine enough to bear 
the scrutiny of what has gone before and all that is to come. 
At an age when even the fleeting things have the appear-
ance of being permanent, youth are less tolerant of the 
things that fall beneath the pressure of the day. They are 
eager to espouse the survival of the fittest because they know 
so little of what it costs to survive. A man wings his way 
across the Atlantic and every boy in America longs for an 
aviator's helmet and a toy airplane. To them, beauty must 
be imperishable; it must catch something of that mysterious 

' power which- lifts it just a little above us as common mor-
tals And so when youth demands enduringness, then give 
them immortality on which to rest their hope, their love, 

their final destiny. 
Beauty must have color. It matters not whether it may 

be the scarlet of the red, the shimmering of the darkest blue, 
or even the flaming orange of the gold, because it is the vrv-
idness which rouses warmth and charity. It loosens all the 
well-springs of affection, courage, pride, excitement, joy, and 
veils them with a spell of glamour. But youth must learn 
that there are shades of color blending into gray and drab 
which have the same inherent power to stimulate, to warm, 
to lift into the heights of ecstasy. 

Not long ago an American reporter told of being sent to 
interview a European artist on the occasion of his receiving 
some award. The reporter referred to the subject of the 
award as a masterpiece, but the painter protested that it was 
not worthy to be called that. "I could have made a master-
piece," he said, "on a subject which I found in your own 
country. When I was a boy, my father took me to America 
to visit some cousins who lived on an Illinois farm. During 
'that summer I went often to the home of a neighbor boy, 
Gerald, whose family owned the adjoining land. And it was 
Gerald's mother who would have made a subject for a great 
painting. She had such beautiful hands." 



64 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

"Beautiful hands?" echoed the reporter in surprise. "How-
could a farm woman keep her hands white and sof t?" "They 
were not white," said the artist. "They were brown and toil-
worn, but they were strong, and firm, and tender. In their 
movement, I can see now the expression of life and love and 
death. But I shall never paint her, because she was killed 
rescuing her youngest son from a runaway horse." And so 
when youth demand color in beauty, then give them courage, 
and love and understanding sympathy. 

The quest of beauty is for the body, for the mind, and 
for the spirit. The vogue for costume jewelry, and repro-
ductions of originals in dress is only an expression of that 
natural desire for the perfection, the endurance, and the 
color which is found in the genuine. A popular illustrator 
said recently, "The modern beauty contest is an absurd phe-
nomenon because obviously a beautiful girl could not enter 
one. Even physical beauty is a fundamental quality of the 
spirit." So leaders of youth should help them to develop a 
taste in design and color for their own adornment, a taste 
which bars out the cheap and the gaudy. Good leadership 
can develop for a girl a sense of style and originality in dress 
that will seem to bring out all those qualities of virtue, love-
liness, and charm. It will, as it were, turn on that inner 
lamp which lights a glow of poise and deep tranquility. 

And beauty for the mind should be an easy thing to fur -
nish. We have the bookshelves of the centuries with history 
and verse and story in them all. You can find there the 
thrilling tales of science and achievements made, the long 
treks of adventure, the march of progress by the pioneer, 
and even the saga of romance. We have the galleries of the 
ages filled with art, a coterie of friends that youth should 
know and mingle with throughout the years. We have the 
music of two worlds borne out upon us in single instrument, 
in symphony, or voice, and all of it transmuted by the radio. 
I t is left for us only to choose the perfect, the lasting, and 
the colorful that we may cast aside the cheap, the vile, the 
shoddy imitations and perversions of the good. 

And lastly for the spirit. Gather these all together— 
truth and love and immortality. Use them to curb the pas-
sions of the body and the mind. Call on the masters who 
have left behind their deathless tokens of that genius given 



YOUTH NEEDS BEAUTY 65 

them, genius to tune the harmonies of time into an aria of 
peace and threnody of love, genius to brush upon a canvas 
beauties of sky and earth and lovely womanhood, genius to 
picture with the magic word all the ideals of courage, hon-
or, and of gallantry. That youth needs beauty is shown by 
the universality of the quest. Use it to promote the culture 
of Christ for the kingdom of Christ. 



66 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

"That Youth Demands Beauty is Shown by the 

Universality of the Quest." "The Flame," St. 

Catherine of Siena—J. Eaton. 

TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 
1. How can we, as leaders, aid Youth to form the "test of 

beauty", "this measuring rod of t ru th?" 
2. Show from your own youth groups that youth is "seek-

ing beauty." 
3. Do you through your parish program give to youth an 

appreciation of the age old culture of the Church in art, 
in music, in literature, in poetry, in architecture and in 
drama ? 

4. Have you tried small study groups of the Madonnas ? Of 
Catholic poetry? etc. Have your small groups presented 
programs to the whole membership so all may taste the 
best? 

5. "Beauty is perfection and God is all perfect." How have 
you woven the doctrine of the Mystical Body of Christ 
throughout your program ? 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Culture for Young People — Mrs. J. M. Harding 

N. C. C. W.—10c 
Culture .and Religion Jacques Maritain 
The Means of Grace : Rev. Leon A. McNeill and 

Madeleine Aaron 
St. Anthony's Guild Press-Patterson, New Jersey—50c 

The Mystical Body of Christ, Rt. Rev. Fulton J. Sheen, Ph.D. 
Sheed-Ward Publishers, 63 Fif th Ave., N. Y. C.—$2.50 

Christ and the Christian Life. Rev. J. Dupurray, S.J. 
Translated by the Right Reverend John J. Burke, C.S.P. 

Longman's Green Co. 
The Daily Missal 





BOOKS 
Anne Sarachon Hooley 

These brief talks can at best contain only enough to 
provoke discussion and to outline the philosophy which 
underlies recreation. You can get the detailed program plan 
in printed form, but you the leaders and the sponsors and 
those interested in your group will supply the action. That 
is half the fun, working out the details yourself. As an 
opening for a plan of developing cultural appreciation, we 
have talked of the various fields of culture and beauty, of 
the things which youth have expressed a need for, and the 
things which beauty can give them. Today, touching on just 
one phase of that, we come to literature. 

Is there anything so fascinating as opening a new book, 
or tearing the wrapper from a crackling magazine? Some-
how, the smell of printer's ink and the rustle of uncut pages 
arouses a nostalgia of its own; it indicates new possibilities, 
new fields of adventure, and there is always the chance that 
we shall meet a new friend or a relative of an old one. An 
acquaintance of mine who now regretfully admits that she 
never read anything but a school book until she was married 
says that her husband and her children have in the classics 
whole families of friends who are perfect strangers to her. 
She recalls with some chagrin the occasion on which she 
asked her young son if Mr. Micawber was one of the teach-
ers at school. 

Some time ago at a dinner party in New York City an 
executive of a motion picture company, which is about to 
produce a current very popular novel mentioned several of 
the stars whose names had been suggested for the cast. In-
stantly there arose a heated discussion as to the fitness of 
each with the guests present aligning themselves on one side 
or the other, so that listening to them I suddenly became con-
scious of how real those characters were to us. The person 
who does not read is like a man going through life with one 
eye bandaged, for he sees only those things which happen to 
lie in his immediate range, and the wider vision, that ex-
citing world of history and travel and fiction and thought, 
is lost. 



BOOKS 69 

But reading is one of those happy things that may be 
developed. I t is not at its best, however, when done as a 
matter of duty. I recall once hearing a man say. that he 
did not have time to read the things he liked because he was 
so busy reading those things that someone might ask him 
about. Now this would be a tragic situation. And yet, for 
youth particularly reading can be directed and led so as to 
be a constructive, enriching thing. If you can fancy the mind 
of youth as a magnificent art gallery, perfect in construction, 
exquisite in detail, delicate in coloring, and know that you 
choose through reading the pictures that will hang there a 
lifetime, then surely you will not scar its beauty with the 
ugly and the suggestive. Rather you will enshrine there 
loveliness to stand the test of time, challenges to provoke 
progress, and true philosophy to furnish courage and seren-
ity through all the troubled doubts that are to come. 

It would be impossible even to suggest here titles or 
authors in what is called current reading. Much of it is 
worthless, some of it is worse than worthless because it is 
degrading in a positive sense, some of it is untrue and biased, 
but much of it is stimulating and beautiful. And always 
there is the treasure house of that which has stood through 
the centuries. A well-known American editor who might 
surely go wherever he wished, likes to tell that every six 
months he travels the width and the breadth of some for-
eign country by means of reading. He 'studies the language, 
the history, the government, the geography and the tradi-
tions until he numbers that people among his acquaintances. 
Like men who go down to the sea in ships, you may explore 
new lands, exotic and dangerous, you may engage in battle 
with the enemies of truth and justice through controversial 
writings, you may sail serenely upon untroubled waters with 
poetry and rhythmic prose, or you may cast anchor in the 
harbor of fiction where you yourself become in imagination 
the hero or the heroine. 

Someone has sent me a clipping whose source I do not 
know, but it is entitled, "How to Read Books". 

Read the preface first. Go in through the front 
door. 

Read plenty of books about people and things, not 
too many books about books. 



70 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

Read one book at a time, but never one book alone. 
Well worn books have relatives. Meet them all. 

Read the old books, those that have stood the test 
of years. Read them slowly, carefully, thorough-
ly. They will help you to discriminate among 
the new ones. 

Read no book which the author has not taken pains 
enough to write in a clear, sound, lucid style. 
Life is too short. 

Read over again the ten best books that you have 
already read. The result of this experiment 
will test your taste, measure your advance and 
will fit you for progress in the art of reading. 

What do you read ? Poetry for music and ecstasy ? Fic-
tion for adventure and romance? Essays for wit and humor 
and the gentle arts? Drama for comedy and tragedy and 
satire? Or do you read history, travel, and biography for 
escape and landing fields? Or all the gamut of intellectual 
problems for a challenge and a balance? 

How do you read i t? In the newspaper? And by the 
way, what do you read first there—news, finance, sports, so-
ciety, or editorial page ? , Do you read magazines because 
you snatch your reading in between? Or is it digests which 
are increasing so rapidly that we shall soon have to have 
a digest to review the digests ? 

Along with the charm schools and the recipe for mak-
ing friends, there is a passing vogue for books on the Art 
of Conversation. Have you ever drawn a dinner partner 
who before you have scarcely caught your breath on being 
seated, plops out for no reason at all a question something 
like this, "Did you know that it was 500 kilometers from Je-
rusalem to Jericho ?" That is supposed to start the ball of 
brilliant conversation, but it so often impels one to answer, 
"Who cares ?" and as Douglas says "leave him with the 
wreck of a conversation in his hands and nowhere to put it." 
But conversation, likq reading, if it is to be an art, must be 
genuine and have its foundation on those solid fundamentals 
of interest, enjoyment, and conviction. True, it may be cul-
tivated, but even then, it must be cultivated with sincerity 
and simplicity. 



BOOKS 71 

Whether reading is looked upon as an art or a food, it 
must include some spiritual reading. Again there is an abun-
dant supply of good material. A book kept upon the bedside 
table or in a corner of the library regularly accessible devel-
ops that inner life which keeps one close to the Source of all 
life. 

Those who hold a faith about which there clings a f rag-
rance of age-old wisdom, of beauty, and of charity, have a 
responsibility to know the influence with which this f rag-
rance has touched the march of time and men. Likewise to 
know the part it played in all the births and rebirths of the 
arts. Likewise to know that healing panacea, that wise so-
lution which it brings to still the chaos and disorder of our 
present day. To do so, they must read the social thought 
and the social philosophy which surrounds that faith. Only 
then are they equipped to experience the joy of seeing the 
increasing interest in the philosophy of Aquinas and the 
gradual reawakening of a heritage. Perhaps it is not read-
ing for too early youth, but it is a fascinating, stimulating, 
host of material. 

There is food for deep reflection in the thought that 
within the last few decades many distinguished men of let-
ters have taken the simple path, followed the sometimes tor-
tuous road across the Alps, along the Tiber and up to the 
very tomb of Peter where they stood, in all their greatness, 
humbly asking the security of Truth and the serenity of 
eternal fulfillment. These are no intellectual pygmies, no 
cheap purveyors of sentimentality, no agitators of the mob. 
They make no compromise with Truth and Beauty. They 
tune emotions with a word or phrase. Their wit and humor 
flash like a shining rapier in the sun. Their keen analysis 
of trends and tendencies is shored up by unassailable logic 
and a fundamental philosophy. And yet, you may have them 
as daily guests at table, you may bring them to chat with 
your friends, you may walk with them as you go about your 
daily life, and you may sit with them in your libraries in the 
evening beside an open fireplace. Only, only I say, if you 
will read. 



72 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

"Books are Friends, Tried and True" 

TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. Discuss Catholic Books as a means of real cultural ap-
preciation; of developing the "measuring rod of truth." 

2. Youth loves to read. How can you, through informal 
study groups and talks, foster a love of good literature; 
of Catholic books? 

3. Have you and the youth you lead tried the suggestions 
in "How to Read Books?" 

4. Couldn't your youth group work with the library com-
mittee of the Senior Council of Catholic Women in de-
veloping a Lending Library; in encouraging the public 
library to secure Catholic books; in fostering the Cath-
olic press and Catholic publications? 

5. Reading is a most important all-year-round activity. 
Have you given it proportional space in your program-
ming? 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Books—Study Club Outline _ N. C. C. W. 
N. C. C. W.—10c 

The Catholic Literary Revival C. P. Alexander, S. J. 
The Bruce Publishing Co., 524 N. Milwaukee St., 

Milwaukee—$2.50 
The Book Survey IS Cardinal Hayes Literature Committee 

23 E. 51st St., N. Y. C., Quarterly—50c a year 
This Publishing Business Sheed-Ward Co. 

63 Fif th Ave., N. Y. C.—Free 





ARTS—CRAFTS 

Anne Sarachon Hooley 

Among the- many welcome letters that have been sent in 
is one which suggests an interesting point. A director 
writes: "The broadcasts have certainly brought new life to 
our group. The leaders were dying of boredom and we had 
thought to retire them and give them decent burial, but in 
the last three weeks they have been coming early bubbling 
with ideas. The groups have caught the enthusiasm, we 
have several spring affairs, both athletic and cultural in the 
making, and lo, and behold! we have some new equipment." 

Now the point is that none of this real work has been 
due to the broadcast, but that someone through considering 
the issues raised, has caught the vision which made her see 
the challenge and the joy in the possibilities around her. 

You are all familiar with a slang phrase which was pop-
ular a few years ago "Let's go places and do things." I t 
passed through the usual evanescent life of modern slang 
and was for the most part forgotten. Not long ago we heard 
a distinguished leader of youth remark in a public address 
that what young people need today is to act upon that sug-
gestion. They need to do things rather than have things 
done for them. And after all, isn't it highly probable that 
this slang phrase sprung from a natural urge of youth to do 
rather than to look on? Machine-made entertainment wrap-
ped up in a blue ribbon or handed out in exchange for a 25 
cent admission ticket will never satisfy. There is much 
complaint nowadays that youth is restless, unstable, and un-
poised, but the complainants forget that the adult world has 
removed from youth the securities which make for poise. 
Even a growing tree must have it roots firmly established 
in the ground if it is to bring forth new branches and even-
tually full fruit . There must be nourishment of courage and 
beauty, and faith, and youth must be allowed to draw into 
itself the strength of that courage, that beauty, that faith. 
In this way, the additional years will bring not merely the 
growing older, but the growing up, the maturing and blos-
soming by which all the forces of that growing will merge 



ARTS—CRAFTS 75 

into the real fruition. Of primary value in this development 
is the drawing of the adoltescent or post-adolescent toward 
actual participation in some one of the arts. 

We want first to emphasize the importance of selecting 
artistic and cultural projects appropriate to the various age 
levels. This will serve the purpose of dividing your large 
groups into several small ones as well as securing the last-
ing interest of each section because the material is sufficient 
to challenge their ability, though not beyond their power to 
do. 

For example in the field of dramatics, we have for the 
younger groups the .dramatization of the old ballads and the 
shadow pictures which can be as elaborate or as simple as 
the equipment and the talent require. For the very young, 
nursery rhymes, familiar poems, and even whole plays, if 
carefully selected, may be acted in silhouette. Not long ago, 
I saw a group of sixteen year olds, who after a period of two 
years' preparation presented a folk festival. The project 
began with the learning of a few folk songs and went on to 
include a study of the customs, art, costumes and settings, 
until the finished city-wide production had included all that 
fascinating field of music, dramatics, costume design, decor-
ation, and management necessary to the thrilling climax. 
This involved of course adult leadership and sponsorship, 
but it made a place for nearly every interest of that age 
youngster somewhere in the working up to the stunning pre-
sentation it proved. The cautions to be observed are two— 
meticulous planning, and the insertion at strategic points 
along the way of opportunities to produce before an audi-
ence some small phase of the project as a stimulus to the 
young person who, at that age, finds difficulty in sustaining 
interest over a long period of time, if the steps in achieve-
ment are not sufficiently marked. 

Following this stage, is the more adult drama group, 
ranging all the way from the rather crudely-presented ama-
teur play to the Little Theatre whose influence is gradually 
making itself felt in the smaller cities throughout the coun-
try. More and more groups are coming to consider two very 
important phases of play production; first, that the play se-
lected must answer the demands of strength, good judg-
ment, and taste, as well as fall within the capacity of the 



76 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

group; secondly, that dramatic productions open a field of 
many allied arts, such as set design, lighting, make-up, play-
reading, publicity, et cetera. Too often a recreational or-
ganization selects a vapid play because it is harmless, or a 
shoddy type because it will draw laughs, thus missing en-
tirely one of the great interests. In the search for suitable 
vehicles, somewhat experienced members may serve as a 
play-reading committee while in the improvised workshop 
other members of the group may experiment to their heart's 
content with lighting or with set and costume designing. 

This leads to the drama reading groups so popular with 
many college alumnae. They read and discuss the current 
as well as the classical drama, varying the program with re-
views by those who have seen the original productions. In 
leaving this topic, we recall Anton Lang's regretful remark, 
"In its pristine days, drama was mobilized for good as truly 
as today, alas, it is so generally mobilized for evil or is ren-
dered negative for lack of thought to give it worth and 
spirit." Perhaps in the Little Theatre there lies a potential 
revival of i ts original purpose. 

Another outlet for the creative urge is poetry. Let 
youth groups write it if they will or read it when they pre-
fer. Perhaps all will not come to know the magnificence of 
the promise made by Column when he said, 

"Who reads the verse I write 
Shall know the Falcon's flight, 
The vision single and sure, 
The conquest of air and sun"— 

but they will surely touch new depths of appreciation for 
beauty. Since in the educational technique of today eight-
year olds are encouraged to express thoughts in verse, cer-
tainly the older youth may find some pleasure there. 

And then we come to a field so wide, so much a part of 
our lives, that many talks would not begin to exhaust its 
possibilities. Music! And we can best keep our feet on the 
ground by confining ourselves to a mention of its several 
forms of expression in group work. Music is so interwoven 
with all the activities of a recreational program that it is 
difficult to segregate it entirely. Singing, for example, when 
taken as an outlet for emotions or a joyous experience, 



ARTS—CRAFTS 77 

serves both to unify a group and to satisfy that individual 
desire for expression. Even people who claim they have no 
musical reactions, nor even a tone sense, will respond to stir-
ring rhythms and simple melodies. As the wounded little 
drummer boy said, when, being carried from the field he 
continued the feeble beating of the sticks while the life-blood 
slowly dripped from his side, "Men should not have to lose 
or win without music." 

For the few, there are the choral clubs and the orches-
tras. Where there is special talent and direction, these are 
.extreitiely valuable media. For the large numbers and for 
the city-wide undertakings, community choruses and occas-
ionally, when direction, training, and ability are available, 
there is the single opera. But for all, in small groups or 
large, there is abundant opportunity for the practical devel-
opment of musical appreciation. We have, through the radio 
and the popular priced productions in many cities, a. chance 
for intimate acquaintance with the opera, the symphony, and 
the concert. Here again, reading groups may discuss books 
on music, its history and its form, but this should be only a 
supplement to the individual expression and the enjoyment 
of expression by the great artists. 

And lastly handcraft. Certainly, it would take an am-
bitious person even to attempt the naming of possibilities 
in handcraft. From papier mache, through dolls and rugs and 
airplanes and furniture to photography and modeling and 
map-making, on ad infinitum, there are literally hundreds of 
fascinating means. Suffice it to say here that the great pre-
caution on the part of a leader is to see that the youth de-
termines, either impliedly or expressedly her own point of 
interest departure. Often two or three media may be at-
tempted before she finds one which is fully satisfying. Thè 
leader needs to think of skills and technique always as a 
result and not as a primary drive. 

As we said in the beginning, youth needs desperately to 
do things himself. He needs to be a central actor, a neces-
sary part of things, not merely an onlooker. If you question 
the universality of this urge, watch the young child, not yet 
able to walk, build a crude design in blocks and then sit back 
to gaze with pride on his own handiwork. And if you chance 
to be one of a large family, you know the great crisis that 



78 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

can be precipitated when an older brother or sister through 
awkwardness or through mischief, destroys that design. As 
the years go on, older youth is equally sensitive to the crit-
icism of his creations, to the ridicule or the impatience of his 
family with the debris that his special hobby may make. But 
wise parents and leaders will see to it that these urges to 
self-expression through craft are encouraged and praised 
even in their crudity, because when denied them youth may 
seek other avenues of expression destructive and devastating 
in their effect. The formation of negative behavior patterns 
can often be traced to a belittling of the accomplishment in 
a child. 

However, not only youth, but all America needs the phy-
sical and mental therapy that comes from doing things with 
the hands, as an exhaust valve for imagination, color, ad-
venture, and the creative drive. We need in the midst of 
a hectic twentieth century existence, some of the satisfac-
tions of the guildsmen who with caressing fingers fashioned 
beauty from wood, from glass, from metal, from leather, 
from clay, or from fabric. We need it then as a definitely 
planned part of our leisure time. 

Youth needs music and poetry and drama and craft, but 
it needs to know them through participation. A great pro-
ducer, perhaps the greatest of our time, has said that there 
is only one perfect dramatic production and that the Pon-
tifical Mass. True it is that here, to the accompaniment of 
perfection in lines, in pageantry, and in music, audience and 
actor are merged in the re-enactment of the perfect theme of 
undying beauty. May parish groups particularly draw from 
this the inspiration and stimulus to find the values of cultural 
appreciation. It will serve to lift artistry to the empire of 
the spirit. 



ARTS—CRAFTS 79 

"Oh, For A Chance To Do!" 

TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. It is said, "We need doers, not lookers." Doiesn't Youth 
always want to "do?" How has the opportunity been 
given the Youth of your parish ? 

2. Consider the part in a well-rounded program, to be played 
by Dramatics; Music; Art; Crafts. 

3. Is' our failure to attract ALL girls of the age level to our 
programs, a failure to appreciate different taste and de-
sires, and a resultant failure to sponsor a well-rounded 
program that will interest more girls ? 

4. How can we improve our standards of these activities so 
they will aid in the development of cultural appreciation ? 

5. How may we lead Youth to a greater appreciation of the 
Pontifical Mass, the "Perfection of all A r t ? " 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Youth Leaders' Loose-leaf Notebook N. C. C. W. 
Sections on Dramatics, Arts, Music and Crafts—$1.00 

Hobbies, A Bibliography Office of Education 
U. S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D. C. 10c 

N. C. W. C. Study Club Outlines on Liturgy .... N. C. W. C. 
Leaflets—oc-lOc 

The Mass-Drama William Busch, O. S. B. 
Liturgical Press—35c 

Is This My Body John M. Raich, C. S. P. 
Our Sunday Visitor Press—10c 





VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE 

Lillian Moller Gilbreth 

I t is a very great pleasure indeed to give you a few hints 
as to opportunities for young people, and things which help 
them to find their entertainment in these opportunities. 

In the first place there are certain attitudes toward life 
which make it easier for one to find things to do which are 
interesting and stimulating, and to do these things well. Ii 
one looks upon life as a sort of challenge—a series of oppor-
tunities or problems which come to one and all of us—and if 
one thinks of oneself as a force, and faces these problems 
one at a time, and brings to them the very best knowledge 
and experience that one has at the time, then one has that 
attitude which is going to mean not only that one finds more 
things to do, but one really does them in a better way. 

Of course there come certain techniques of effective liv-
ing—things which one can bring to any problem which one 
has to solve, to any type of work which one has to do. The 
first of these is one which we all know very well, although 
we sometimes do forget it, and that is being physically fit 
and on one's toes and interested in doing things. I dont 
mean only being well, although this is the basis of physical 
fitness, but that sort of feeling well which makes one really 
ready to get up in the morning and undertake the things 
which are at hand and which carry one through the day with 
a real interest in what is going on. Out in industry and bus-
iness, in the factory and in the offices and in the stores, as 
we study the people who are making good in every field of 
work, those who are really physically fit and look as if they 
can take over responsibilities, are people who are wanted 
everywhere and who are succeeding on their jobs. 

The next thing, which is an asset on every job I know, 
is to be mentally alert. I don't mean only to have a large 
store of information and to be able to use it, I mean to be 
interested in a variety of things, and to look interested, and 
to be interested not only in the things which one does oneself, 
but in other people's interests, and in what they have to say. 
That is in every job and in every situation a real asset. 



82 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

The third technique of effectiveness is to t ry to keep just 
as serene and happy as one possibly can. Fortunately young 
people today live in an age where they recognize that to have 
high spirits and even a hot temper, to be tremendously in-' 
terested and vital, and affected by things, is an asset, as long 
as one knows how to control one's feelings when they need to 
be controlled, and to put all this high-charged power into 
worthwhile things; this is f a r better than to have no life, no 
enthusiasm, no real interest. Progressive parents and teach-
ers and employers of every sort today do know this sort of 
thing, and do appreciate that a lot of high spirits and "a lot 
of energy are an asset, if along with this one can have a 
certain feeling' of being at peace with people and with life. 

Don't blame the job if you don't happen to like it, and 
don't blame the School if you don't happen to like it, and 
don't even blame your family if things don't always go right. 
But always be sure yourself that you have a certain serenity 
of spirit within. 

The fourth one of these is very similar and has to do 
with liking people and getting on with people. This is really 
a large part of that important thing called personality of 
which We hear so much. A certain amount of personality 
and certain differences of personality are, of course, born in 
one, but anyone, no matter what his inheritance happens to 
be, his education or training, can gradually come to like peo-
ple, to get on with people, to know how to handle people, and 
that perhaps is the greatest asset of all. 

Now of course there are varieties of skill, things which 
jobs call for and people have to offer, and which help par-
ents and teachers and especially young people themselves to 
learn what they like to do, what they can do, and perhaps 
sometimes what they can't do and what certainly they do 
not like to do—and I want to give some of these for you this 
morning, because they have helped a great many young peo-
ple to find out what things they could do and to locate op-
oortunities for those things. 

They all happen to begin with "M", and there are five 
of them, and the fact that they do makes them easier to re-
member. 

The first is handling of Materials. H in the kindergart-
en and up the line, a young person has learned how to be 



VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE 83 

dexterous with his fingers, to know one material from an-
other, if he has had Girl Scout training. Boy Scout training, 
or other similar training, he has a real basis for a variety 
of jobs, because people, in selling of any sort, have to know 
about materials. . 

The first thing a young man or woman will do m going 
into department store work is to learn the materials in his 
department, and what can be done with them, and how they 
can be most effectively handled. He will have instructions 
both in the Training Department and in the Library. When 
he goes down into the department where he is to work, the 
people there will teach him; but quite naturally if he has had 
some background and experience, it will be a great help. A 
purchasing agent in any kind of business or industry who 
must make out the lists and specifications of things to be 
bought—anybody who buys in retailing or in wholesal ing-
will also find this handling of materials a great help. 

The second skill has to do with the handling of Machin-
ery—not only the automobile, but every other kind of mach-
ine—and no matter how simple your experience may have 
been, it will be an asset also. 

The third one has to do with handling Money—not only 
the way a cashier does it, (and being a cashier in school will 
help) but also making budgets and knowing how money is 
used, because after all, every one of us is a consumer or 
buyer in our home. Then we come to the matter of account-
ing or banking, or a big job in which handling money plays 
a big part. 

The fourth skill is the handling of Memoranda or paper 
work of any sort. If you are good at keeping records at 
school, or in a club or society in which you belong, or if you 
have had some experience in checking up on bills and records 
at home, all of these things help. 

And the last one is the handling of Men—getting on well 
and happily with other people. Now in return for this, jobs 
offer a variety of things—money, promotion, meeting inter-
esting people, working on products that interest you, and 
being with an organization which is a fine one, of which you 
are proud. These should be things that you look for when 
you look for jobs, or prepare for them. But there are other 
things jobs offer too. 



84 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

Some people like to do quantity work; they are interested 
in making things, and letting them pile up. My little boy, 
when asked to bring in wood, wanted to stack it all around 
the room, because he took keen enjoyment in seeing the ac-
cumulation. This is an example of quantitative work. 

Other people don't care so much for quantity—they like 
quality. They would rather do a few things and do them 
well. If you happen to be that kind of person, you would 
like to be on work where you get that sort of satisfaction. 

Again, some people like repetitive work. They don't 
mind doing a thing over and over again, even if they have 
to do it the same way. They have a sense of rhythm and 
like to get the swing into the activity, and if you are that 
sort of person, of course you would like that kind of job. 

Other people are different; they hate to do things over 
and over. They turn their hats around and wear them on« 
day one way, and one another. I have a young son who in-
sisted on constant variety, even to the point where he tried 
white strings in his black shoes just to see if it would look 
attractive. Now if you are that kind of person, it is tha t 
kind of job for which you must look. 

But don't forget that the job is never the whole of life. 
You have 24 hours in which to live—you must plan not only 
for your work, but for your leisure. If you do this; and if 
you look at yourself as a person who can do and wants to 
do things, and look for jobs where things can be done and 
enjoyments gained I am sure you will find a variety of op-
portunities, and I wish you luck in finding them and in using 
them to the very best possible advantage! 



VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE 85 

"Let Every Man Be Occupied, and Occupied in the 

Highest Employment of Which His Nature 

Is Capable."—Sydney Smith. 

TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. Discuss the four techniques of "effective living." 

2. How ioes a practical Catholic faith aid in developing 
each of these four techniques? 

3 What activities in our Youth program will teach youth to 
handle each "M?" Does each young person have an op-
portunity to develop the five "M's?" 

4. What activities should we have for quantity and for qual-
ity workers; for repetitive and for variety activities? 

5 What Vocational Guidance is available to the youth of 
your community? Do you as a Youth leader or sponsor 
cooperate and help? 

6. Consider "The way of life is the way of Christ." 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

A Map of Life I 9 E - B p F - J ; S h e e d 

Sheed and Ward, 63 Fif th Ave., N. Y. C.—$1.26 
Training the Adolescent j Reverend R. McCarthy, S. J . 

Houghton-Mifflin Co., 386 Fourth Ave., N. Y. C.—$2.00 
Vocational Guidance Pamphlet .... Com. on Youth Problems 

Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C.—10c 
Make Yourself a Job I M. D. Hockenbury 

Dauphin Publishing Co., Harrisburg, Pa.—$1.50 
Careers for You S i W. B. Pitkin 

Rotary International, 35 E. Wacker Drive, Chicago—25c 
Work Guide for the Study of Occupations H. P. Thomas 

and C.'E. Partch 
Houghton-Mifflin Co., New York City—60c 

Careers for Women - c - E - F i l e n e Houghton-Mifflin Co., New York City—$3.00 
Careers for Our Daughters D. W. Hughes 

Macmillan, New York City—$1.75 





PREPARATION FOR MARRIAGE 
AND PARENTHOOD 

Mercedes Phalen Hayden 

I am very happy to speak on Preparation for Home Mak-
ing from Washington for it is in Washington that I have 
spent almost fourteen years as a homemaker mysetf and 
S this length of time I have had two daughters and three 
sons so I have made my contribution to Youth. 

I recently heard of a woman in the Middle West who 
applied for work with the Government and stated that she 
would qualify because she had kept books for six months 
and had had 285 hours of motherhood. If that is a qualifica-
tion as to fitness for the job at hand, then I can qualify too, 
for I have approximately 113,880 hours of motherhood to my 
credit, working both the day and night shifts. 

In that time I have learned many things about home-
making. For real happiness in any home y°u ™ust have 
the responsible, sympathetic care of the fanuly by both the 
father and the mother, and sincere affection and cooperation 
among all its members. The home which runs smoothly and 
happily is the one which is efficiently managed. To_ do this 
job well you must be trained for it. I t is the consciousness 
of their need of training for homemaking which we must im-
press upon the youth of today. 

When we think of marriage and parenthood as a career, 
there are certain essentials to be mastered regardless of the 
amount of time one has spent in the classroom or m the busi-
ness world after school. I do not know any individual m my 
circle of friends who would go into an office seeking employ-
ment and who would state as to his or her qualifications: I m 
sorry but I have no training whatever for this type of work 
and I really haven't given it much serious thought. Yet 
how many girls today walk blithely into marriage with no 
more preparation for the responsibilities which face them. 
They feel that of course their marriage will be a success be-
cause they are so very much in love! Surprising it is that 
so many marriages survive such conditions, and homemak-
ing on this basis becomes a pretty sketchy proposition. 



88 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

It would be delightful if one could acquire all the in-
formation necessary for homemaking in a High School or 
College course called, for example, "Homemaking 1A under 
Professor X, two hours a week". Such courses help but the 
best preparation begins in childhood. Every child is a po-
tential homemaker. Treat him as such and your grandchil-
dren will bless you! Train his heart, his mind and his soul. 
A wise mother begins her child's training early. She insists 
upon healthy habits, careful eating and plenty of fresh air 
and sunshine. As means of obtaining sufficient exercise I 
strongly recommend the Girl Scouts, the Boy Scouts and 
other such well-organized groups where the health element 
plays so important a part. Camping, hiking and outdoor 
sports are all splendid helps to a healthy youth 'and when 
they take place under trained supervision in company with 
friends they are doubly beneficial. 

One of our Eastern colleges has a course which the girl 
students romantically call the "Diamond Ring Course" It 
is none other than our old friend Domestic Science, and I be-
lieve it is doing more for capable homemaking than courses 
on Personality, Appeal or even Glamour which today have 
such a vogue among our young people. I think every girl 
should know how to cook, and it is good for the boys too It 
takes time, energy, practice and imagination to make a skill-
ed cook. There can be a fascination about cooking as thrill-
ing as any experiment in a laboratory. I had no formal 
course m domestic science but my mother was wise enough 
to tie an apron around me and start me on my culinary high-
way at the age of eight. My own boys and girls are follow-
ing in my footsteps and have all kinds of fun in the kitchen 
1 admit they are in the way sometimes but you can't give 
cooking lessons on the front porch. The girls can cook simple 
but tasty meals. The boys help with the marketing and put 
away the supplies. They can also set the table neatly, but 
the baby is better at dismantling it. 

I like to let the children entertain and be responsible 
for the pleasure and comfort of their guests. Picnics lun 
cheons or supper parties are suitable, but whatever form the 
occasion takes the child should shciulder a great deal of the 
responsibility. My daughter of twelve entertained six friends 
fit supper last summer. She issued the invitations, planned 



PREPARATION FOR MARRIAGE AND PARENTHOOD 89 

the menu, set the table appropriately and helped prepare the 
food and arranged games to use later. She also wore to the 
party a sweet little dress which she had made herself. Such 
experiences give graciousness and charm and an easy man-
ner to any prospective hostess. Boys can help too in such 
undertakings. A boy who is so trained, who is courteous 
and well behaved in his own home will hardly develop into 
the party crashing, irresponsible, flippant young fellow we 
find too often nowadays. 

Any growing girl should be able to keep her own room 
neat and tidy. Scout work taught my daughters to make a 
bed neatly as any nurse, a fact I was glad to take advantage 
of during a recent illness. And I was amused to hear the 
younger one explaining to a friend, "I used to tumble and 
toss a great deal at night but since I have been making my 
own bed I turn over very carefully so as not to disturb the 
bedclothes." The boys can very well form the committee on 
lawns and gardens and thus do their bit toward making their 
home attractive. 

Youth's pendulum for some years back was presumed to 
be swinging toward vice and novelty rather than toward the 
virtues, but I honestly believe we are experiencing an age 
where the old fashioned values and trends are growing in-
creasingly popular. Now it is smart to knit and it is smart 
to sew. You really are clever if you can run up a little num-
ber for yourself on the sewing machine or knit two, purl 
three to get that leaf effect on your sweater. I am glad to 
see sewing classes growing increasingly popular in our vari-
ous schools. Many girls attend because their mothers feel 
keenly the lack of such training in their own youth and are 
determined that their daughters will not be similiarly handi-
capped. There is a certain joy to be gained from creating 
which no one can give you and no one can take away from 
you. Courses in sewing can include a knowledge of textiles 
and all our interesting new fabrics. This knowledge enables 
our homemaker to purchase her household supplies wisely 
and saves her from the pitfalls of uncertain sale values and 
bargain prices. 

Any home should be elastic enough to supply space for 
the boy to follow his hobbies or do his tinkering. Schools 
and boys organizations have done remarkable work in raising 



90 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

manual training and various crafts to a high level. Any 
man is a better homemaker if he has worked with wood and 
metal and knows the good from the bad in furniture and 
building construction. 

Np one can qualify as a competent homemaker without 
a knowledge of nursing. It is simple enough to take a course 
in First Aid and there are opportunities in owr various clin-
ics where one can learn and do some practical nursing if 
one's family has been too robust to be practiced upon. 

Boys are naturally familiar with business transactions, 
but girls are too often lacking in this respect. So, young 
ladies, open a bank account and make friends with a bud-
get. You will be glad later when you are called upon to 
handle your share of the family finances. 

I strongly approve of all secular organizations or those 
connected with church or school which have to do with the 
advancement of youth, either physically, socially, intellect-
ually or spiritually. I believe that the child trained for home-' 
making in his own home will when he grows older and takes 
part in the activities of these larger groups bring to them 
something of value. The boy and girl who have gotten the 
most out of the right kind of group work have acquired high 
standards of truth, honesty, fair play and consideration for 
others. They are true to God and their fellow men. These 
virtues will help them immeasurably when they have famil-
ies of their own. To deal judiciously and lovingly with the 
little ones who may come to dwell in the home you have 
made, you need all the logic, psychology, common sense and 
sympathy you can summon. 

Our period of Youth goes probably to the age of twenty-
five. When we think it over, that is only the first third of 
our lives here below. Though happy youth may think that 
he is quite sufficient unto himself, he is only passing through 
a stage of transition and preparation for the fuller, broader 
more sympathetic life which is to follow. Youth properly 
trained can meet that life optimistically. As Browning sug-
gests he can be happy to 

"Grow old along with me, 

The best is yet to be, 

The last of life for which the first was made." 



PREPARATION FOR MARRIAGE AND PARENTHOOD 91 

"A House is a Residence—Religion Makes of It 

a Home" 

TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. Do you consider "marriage and parenthood" a profes-
sion? 

2. What training for this greatest of all lay vocations do 
you think wise? When should this training s tar t? 

3. How may our Youth programs help? 
4. Discuss "Home-Making" activities that are feasible for 

your groups. 
5. Have you asked the cooperation of the American Red 

Cross for Home Nursing, First Aid or Child Care classes ? 
Of Department store heads for interior decorating, home 
furnishings, etc. ? 

6. Are you certain that through your home-making activi-
ties runs always an understanding of the Catholic phil-
osophy of marriage and parenthood? 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The Church and Marriage _.._... Rev. John O'Brien 
The Courtney Company, Fort Wayne, Indiana—$1.50 

Marriage and Parenthood Rev. Thomas J. Gerrard 
Jos. F. Wagner, Inc., 53 Park Place, N. Y. C.—$1.50 

An Introductory Study of the Family Rev. Edgar B. 
Schmiedeler, 0 . S. B. 

D. Appleton Co., 35 West 32 Street, N. Y. C.—$2.50 
You and Your Children Dr. Paul Hanly Furfey 

Benziger Bros. 429 Main St., Cincinnati, Ohio—$1.50 
Religion Outlines ......... Dr. John M. Cooper 

Course IV—For. out-of-school groups. 
The Catholic Education Press, Washington, D. C. 





YOUTH CHOOSES A CAREER 
Anne Sarachon Hooley 

We come today to a consideration of that last phase of 
the vocational division, the selection of a Career whether 
that be temporary or a life work. The youth leader or the 
youth sponsor occupies a particularly strategic position when 
it comes to assisting a boy* or girl in the selection of a voca-
tion. She meets her in those leisure hours, in the at-
mosphere of relaxation and freedom when the youth 
is removed from that inevitable restraint to tenseness, how-
ever slight, which may surround the educational or clinical 
interview. She makes her contribution as a friend, a play-
mate, a companion, rather than as a formal adviser. She 
can moreover supplement the assistance of the educational 
or clinical adviser, if she be alert and thinking. The ideal 
leisure program, with its respect for many responses jmd 
many points of interest departure, brings about a natural ex-
pression of tendencies, of traits, of abilities. Here are in-
dicated the various levels, the various degrees of talent and 
capacity. Because it is a free act, play if properly present-
ed, shows up multipotentialities—that is, in the split second 
of a fleeting mood, a changing attitude, an unconscious ap-
proach, there crop out indications so natural as to be un-
mistakable. 

And so, until our method of education adopts much more 
universally than it does at present all the services of per-
sonnel guidance, there remains in the leisure program great 
opportunity for usefulness in this respect. The real pity 
of the proverbial square peg in the round hole is that in hun-
dreds of instances it is unnecessary. Therefore, granting 
that guidance is in itself a highly specialized field with spe-
cific techniques, one must grant also the value of intelligent, 
understanding, sympathetic assistance from those volunteer 
leaders who of necessity are present and influential at the 
crucial time. Then, while I would urge youth committees 
wherever possible to acquire among their volunteer numbers 
a trained guidance person, I would urge them also to equip 
themselves in a general sense to use the opportunity at hand. 



94 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

A number of years ago when I was doing some person-
nel study at Harvard University, I was assigned a paper on 
one of the project subjects. As I sat at my desk writing this 
day, the colored maid, being a very friendly soul, paused in 
her dusting to read over my shoulder the title. "Kay-reers 
foh women! What all do dat mean?" she asked. Very en-
thusiastically I began to explain that for most women it 
meant marriage and the building of a home and family and 
all that this implied; for others ' i t meant teaching, or one 
of the' less common professions of law or medicine with their 
allied branches, and for some it was found in the marts of 
commerce. Being very young, I undoubtedly touched on the 
glamour of it, so that when I finished she stood wide-eyed, 
her hands on her hips, "Lawdy me! I sho would like one of 
dem things for mahself. But I ain't done paid for mah fu r 
coat yet so I reckon I'll have to wait awhile." In the inter-
vening years between then and now, it has frequently occur-
ed to me that many youngsters select a job or a vocation 
with about the same amount of discrimination as did that 
colored maid. 

You have heard Dr. Gilbreth discuss so magnificently and 
clearly the skills and occupation opportunities. This should 
and will I am certain, form an invaluable fund of reference 
material for your groups. Continuing with the general prob-
lem of the youth leader or sponsor, we see three major 
points of contact—aptitude, preparation in the wider sense, 
and attitude. 

Economic pressure, a restlessness of spirit, or the ap-
parent glamour of holding a job with its accompanying inde-
pendence often lead young people into positions for which 
they are totally unfitted. Being out of school, they have no 
direct contact from which they may seek vocational advice, 
so that unless some interested employer helps them out, they 
go on until they become rebellious and discontented. Here it 
is that the leader or sponsor may be helpful. She may see 
that a girl whose fancy has been caught by a certain type of 
position cannot find satisfaction in it because of her lower 
level of ability. Tactfully and understanding^, one may lead 
her to the attractions of another type work which falls with-
in her capacity. Likewise ambition needs sometimes to be 
lifted to the higher level of ability which is possessed 



YOUTH CHOOSES A CAREER 95 

Then there are the girls who aspire to business and to 
the professions which require some training. On the one 
hand, aptitude tests, measurement and achievement tests 
need always to be individualized, but on the other hand, a 
haphazard, hit-or-miss selection of one of these fields is apt 
to result in at least partial failure. That a girl likes chil-
dren is not positive proof that she will' make a good teacher. 
She may find them aVnusing .and interesting, but lack the 
patience, the vision, and the emotional stability which are 
necessary if she is to find satisfaction in the comparatively 
slow process of academic and character development. That 
a girl was a contributor to the class paper is not satisfactory 
proof that she has great journalistic ability. That a girl 
likes clothes is not, of itself, sufficient basis for presuming 
that she will do her best work as a stylist or fashion director. 

And yet such tiny indications may be of help in form-
ing decisions in regard to abilities. A girl who can organize 
data, who budgets her time, and shows other basic traits of 
systemization will very probably find she has the necessary 
executive ability for success in business. 

Secondly there is preparation which includes dissemin-
ation of information on the various careers, the training 
necessary or available, and the returns which may be looked 
for in each one. A year's program might well include talks 
by successful men or women in each of the fields under con-
sideration; interviews might be arranged with personnel men 
or business institutions, and a large number of monographs 
describing the various careers might be made available for 
individual study or for group discussions. 

Hobby clubs with their dozens of interests, serve not 
only as a testing ground for talents and abilities, but they 
frequently offer the first stage of development in training for 
the various arts. Classes in cooking, sewing, design, the 
use of machines, et cetera, may, with the right kind of lead-
ership, show real progress. But for the higher type secre-
tarial position, teaching, law, medicine, social work, and such, 
there is no possible substitute for professional training. 
With the increasing demands for efficiency and achievement, 
it is scarcely fair to encourage young people to enter com-
petition without the equipment of better training. Sponsor-
ing committees often include educated and experienced wo-



98 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

men who are capable of judging various schools, and of an-
alyzing their programs to see which is strong in fundamen-
tals, stands well in the field, and individualizes its students 
without which success for them in actual practice will not be 
probable. 

Included in preparation must be the attainment of the 
best possible health. Whether poor health be an already ex-
isting condition, or the result of attempting to hold a job 
beyond capacity or training, good counseling will make an 
effort to establish as far as possible the radiance, the energy 
and the glowing vitality necessary to make work bring both 
personal and financial satisfaction. 

And finally there is the attitude toward work. Inevit-
ably for the great majority of girls, a job or a career will 
for all time and wisely be an interim between school and 
the building of a home. Yet a job holds so much possibility 
for enrichment of later life that it is with deep pity that we 
see those years wasted because of the wrong attitude toward 
work. A position properly held means joy in doing, it 
means a sense of responsibility, it means an appreciation of 
service, it means an understanding of loyalty, it means ad-
justment to the peculiarities of other people or emergencies, 
it means developing ability to meet the hard with the easy, 
it promises the thrill of expression, and it should give a keen-
er understanding of that world in which one member of the 
family must always hold a place. It may be a minor job or 
it may be a brilliant one but a girl who takes from it only a 
pay check cheats herself. 

A job holds the application of many fundamental qual-
ities of living. Not long ago I chanced to be talking with 
one of the largest garment manufacturers in the country. 
She heads an institution which has an annual payroll of sev-
eral million dollars, 'and while her product is an inexpensive 
one, its sale has been built upon the unusualness and the 
quality of material. In passing she expressed the hope that 
youth might become more cognizant of genuineness in even 
material things. "I so well remember my first lesson in 
this," she said. "When I was very young my brother gave 
me a quarter to buy material for a doll's dress. I went 
downtown, bought some thread and buttons, and five yards 
of -white organdy. When I reached home, my mother lament-



YOUTH CHOOSES A CAREER 97 

ed that I had bought such a cheap quality, but I would listen 
to no reflection on it. I was radiant to have something all 
new, not a piece of my older sister's dress, not a left-over, 
but all new and fresh, and so I fashioned it lovingly with 
dozens of tucks and ruffles. But alas, as my mother pre-
dicted when it returned from the laundry the first week it 
was only a sleazy, lifeless rag." 

Youth in America particularly needs to know a pride in 
doing something, anything well. A job must bring to the 
one holding it an inherent dignity, a poise, a satisfaction. 
You know the story of the woman who had purchased a 
hand-made chair from a Mexican workman, and then com-
missioned him to make eleven more just like it for her din-
ing-room. When he refused, she offered to pay double the 
amount. "What could you pay me," he said, "to compensate 
for the fact that in this time I might test my power to make 
eleven different ones each more beautiful "than the other?" 
This is perhaps a fantastic suggestion for everyday jobs, 
but it indicates the possibilities of pride in workmanship. 
Given good health, adequate equipment, and the proper at-
titude, a girl may see in her work each day the door to a 
new challenge, a new adventure from which she will take 
equipment for all the years to come. This, you will agree, 
however unimportant the position, is a successful job, be it 
for one year or ten. 



98 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

"That Best Portion of a Good Man's Life— 
His Little, Nameless, Unremembered Acts 
Of Kindness and of Love" 

—Wordsworth. 

TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. What contribution is the volunteer leader of youth priv-
ileged to give in the field of vocational guidance? 

2. How many she ably cooperate with the school in direct-
ing the choice of life work? 

3. Have you encouraged your group to have "career" people 
speak to them of the various professions? Have you 
urged that such speakers tell the whole truth, of the dif-
ficulties and reeds as well as the successful, glamorous 
side? 

4. Have we as -leaders a responsibility to study the profes-
sions and know the demands of training, experience and 
temperament as well as the rewards of service? Is there 
danger in encouraging young people to prepare for the 
already overcrowded professions ? 

5. What can you, as leaders, do to develop happy attitudes 
toward work?» 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Youth—Today and Tomorrow. 
N. C. C. W.—25c 

Youth—Leadership and Catholic Action. 
N. C. C. W.—25c 

Career Leaflets J Dr. Walter J. Greenleaf 
18 leaflets on opportunities of leading professions, 

U. S. Dept. of the Interior Office of Education, 
Washington, D. C.—5c each 

Bibliography on Vocational Guidance Federal Board for 
Vocational Education 

Bulletin No. 66—Trade and Industrial Series No. 19 
Federal Board for Vocational Education, Washington, D. C. 





OPPORTUNITIES FOR RURAL YOUTH 

Clara V. Bradley 

Some 6,000,000 families approximately 31,000,000 persons 
comprise the American farm population. These people deal 
with very fundamental things—those things that make for 
a basically sound, satisfying human existence. They deal 
with the fruits of the earth. They produce the country's 
food and most of the raw materials for its clothing. Agri-
culture is the basic industry of the country. The value of 
the nation's farm property is more than fifty billions of dol-
lars and the annual income varied from four and a half bil-
lions in 1932 to more than ten billions in 1929. 

These are prosaic figures, but the human side of .the pic-
ture is much more interesting. Here we have a classic ex-
ample of togetherness of co-living. The whole life of the 
rural family is associated with the farm. Farming is not 
only a means of earning a livelihood, it is a way of life. The 
members of the family have a common interest in the farm 
as a family occupation. It is a family business and it tends 
to affect the whole pattern of family behavior and relation-
ships. Like other industries the farm must face the eco-
nomic problems of production and marketing, but unlike 
other industries it makes provision for family life, and that 
in a very unique way. 

The farm is the natural home of the family. Its mem-
bers share in the family duties and responsibilities. Shared 
activities knit the family together—integrate it more closely. 

Farm boys and girls serve a natural apprenticeship un-
der the guidance of their fathers and mothers and thus ac-
quire an education in living that is not possible for boys and 
girls who work in shops and factories. There is still a large 
amount of household production in the farm home and girls 
learn much practical home making. Boys have an opportun-
ity to learn about the vocation of farming and often a father-
son contact is established, which is relatively impossible in 
most urban families. Of course, whether or not the home-
making and the farming taught are only "inherited motions" 



OPPORTUNITIES FOR RURAL YOUTH 101 

depends upon the progressiveness and intelligence of the 
parents. 

The real significance of the industry of agriculture lies 
in the fact that it provides a natural environment for whole-
some, vigorous and prolific family life. Available statistics 
show that the farm family is'more vital than the urban fam-
ily. Nearly 20% more of the rural native white of native 
white percentage population 15 years of age and over is mar-
ried as compared with the same classification in metropolitan 
areas. The rural family is larger than the city family. The 
1930 census showed the median size for urban families to be 
3.26 and the median size for rural families to be 4.05. The 
birth rate is considerably higher and the median number in 
the farm family living at home is 28% greater than the me-
dian number of the urban family living at home. The farm 
affords an economic setting in which children are an asset. 
They can make a definite contribution to the family business 
and consequently do not put the parents to proportionately 
greater expense. 

The rural family is more stable. The percentage of na-
tive whites of native parentage, persons who are divorced is 
three times as large in cities of 500,000 or more as it is on 
farms. The annual divorce rate shows a corresponding dif-
ference. 

The life of the rural family is self-contained. Parents 
and children have much the same intellectual interests and 
social contacts. They eat their meals together three times 
a day. There is considerable informal visiting and guests 
enjoy the hospitality of the whole family. Families partici-
pate as a group in outside activities—they attend church to-
gether, celebrate holidays and enjoy picnics as a group. 

There is greater economic security on the farm than in 
the city. While farm income is not large as a rule and the 
general level of rural prosperity never reaches the high of 
other industries real poverty is not a part of farm life ex-
cept in a few areas where inferior lands have been brought 
under cultivation, or where unusual weather conditions pre-
vail. Since the farm produces one-third to one-half of the 
family's living, a comfortable standard of living is more 
easily obtainable than in the city. 



102 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

There is a relatively wide distribution of home owner-
ship. Twenty per cent more rural families own their own 
homes than do city families. 

There is an opportunity for self expression and there is 
dignity of position. The farmer for the most part is self 
employed and he must develop qualities of initiative, fore-
sight, independence of spirit, self-reliance and resourceful-
ness. 

Rural life affords distinct advantages to wholesome 
Christian living. If country people are at all spiritual they 
live very close to God. 

Despite the advantages of a business which affords an 
environment for a wholesome unified family life, a fair de-
gree of economic security, and an opportunity for develop-
ment and self-expression each year, many people who are 
living on farms move to small towns or cities. 

Each year a number of young men and women who grew 
up on farms, are ready to begin working on their own; some 
of them remain on the farms as hired hands, tenants or own-
ers. Many of them leave the farms to find employment else-
where. When employment opportunities in the city are good 
a large number of young people go there. When times are 
poor those who would otherwise have gone to the cities re-
main on the farm. In Wisconsin Rural Youth Bulletin No. 
437, Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Wiscon-
sin, published in November 1936, it was stated that in the 
state of Wisconsin in the 20-25 year age group, three-fourths 
of the farm young men living in the country in 1928 had gone 
into farming by 1933, and one-half of the young farm wo-
men had gone into home-making. Half of the farm young 
women in this group had gone to towns or cities. Forty per 
cent of the group married non-farm men. Sixty-nine per 
cent of the young women married to village or city men are 
from farms while less than 8% of the farmers ' wives are 
from the villages or towns. 

There seem to be two reasons for this rush to town on 
the part of boys and girls. They feel that agriculture is 
hopelessly unprofitable because money income is not plenti-
ful on the farm, and money income is needed to buy cars, 
gas, clothes, movies and all the other things that are believ-



OPPORTUNITIES FOR RURAL YOUTH 103 

ed to be desirable for the full life which they also believe can 
be found only in the city. 

More money, earned faster at easier work, for shorter 
hours. More companionship and good times with perhaps 
less restraint. The fact that these have been only mirages 
in the past does not deter new generations. 

What can be done to encourage boys and girls who have 
been brought up on the farm and have the feel of it in their 
blood to look for diamonds in their own acres ? Discounting 
those whose special aptitudes inevitably would lead them to 
other careers, it is safe to say that the greatest happiness, 
satisfaction, and usefulness for rural-bred boys and girls is 
to be found on the land. To help them understand their need 
for this way of life and the land's need for them is a chal-
lenge to those charged in any way with the leadership of 
rural youth. Youth leaders in the church, the school, the 
community have a real mission, to help the farm youth to 
realize the possibilities in his own environment; ' 

There is a challenge to the schools, particularly to the 
rural high schools to provide better vocational training for 
rural boys and girls in order that they may have an educa-
tional equipment for rural life that is sound and satisfying. 
Those communities that have genuine rural high schools, 
teaching vocational agriculture and home economics are in a 
decidedly favorable position to do this. Four-H Clubs and 
Future Farmers Clubs are excellent means of furthering vo-
cational training and interest. 

Rural Youth is the name which 5,000 rural young men 
and women in Illinois use to distinguish their activities from 
other youth groups who sponsor recreational or educational 
programs for young people. Rural Youth programs are plan-
ned for farm boys and girls of an in-between group. They 
are too old for Four-H Club work but not engaged in farm-
ing or home-making for themselves yet. Surveys in Illinois 
counties brought out the fact that there are from seventy to 
eighty thousand young people in the state for whom such a 
program should be built. The Illinois program has included 
recreational activity; group singing, and chorus work; and 
study groups that have met monthly to study conservation, 
skilled driving, personality development, study of social man-
ners and customs, study of history of the state, followed by 



104 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

trips to places of particular interest, and a project entitled 
"Know Your Farm." This plan holds out great possibilities 
not only for Rural Youth in Illinois, but for Rural Youth in 
the other forty-seven states as well. I t is possible to con-
ceive a greatly expanded .program not only for Rural Youth 
but for adult education along these lines. Some of the ob-
jectives of this expanded program could easily be: 

1. Ways and means of providing a comfortable standard 
of living on the farm. This would call for a consideration of 
some of the means of meeting farm problems as conservation, 
crop insurance, crop production control, aid to tenant farm-
ers, cooperatives, and any other current issues of the day. 

2. Ways and means of enriching the farm'home by adding 
more benefits and facilities to its natural advantages. This 
would mean better housing, more modern conveniences, and 
labor saving devices, more beauty in planting and home de-
coration. 

3. The development of a higher and more satisfying rural 
culture in which the vocation of agriculture is held in high 
regard because it is the basic industry of the country and 
because it is the most satisfying way of life for 6,000,000 
families. I am pleading for genuine rural high schools which 
are competent to train rural leaders who have an intelligent 
understanding of the profession of agriculture, an apprecia-
tion of its advantages, and the ability to help solve some of 
its problems. 



OPPORTUNITIES FOR RURAL YOUTH 105 

"A Youth To Whom Was Given So Much of Earth, 
So Much of Heaven."—Wordsworth. 

TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. Consider the statement "Farming is not only a means of 
earning a livelihood, it is a way of life." 

2. Contrast rural vs. urban families, youth; advantages and 
opportunities. 

3. Since rural youth has so many advantages, how can we, 
through a Youth program, lead him to see REAL VAL-
UES? 

4. What objectives for Rural Youth should we have? 
5. Are the rural parishes in your diocese active? Could 

you help? 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The Rural Community Newell L. Sims 
Charles Scribners Sons, 597 Fifth Ave., N. Y. C. 

4-H Clubs—programs, projects and organization pamphlets. 
4-H Clubs—Extension Division 

U. S. Department of Agriculture 
Washington, D. C. 

Rural Plays National Play Bureau 
Federal Theatre Project 

Lexington at 42nd Street, Chanin Building, N. Y. C. 
Outlook for Rural Youth and 
Farmirjg as a Life Work U. S. Dept. of Agriculture 

Extension Division, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture 
Washington, D. C. 





INTERNATIONAL YOUTH CONGRESS 
Mary G. Hawks 

I am very happy to share with our friends something of 
my contacts abroad with organizations of young people, vir-
ile, vital, joyous, eager to serve with all the power of the 
Christian ideal lived. 

For we are all too apt to think of the Youth Movement 
in Europe only in terms of youth inspired by the philosophy 
of Nationalism and paying the tribute of idealism, enthusi-
asm and heroism to a State Absolute, as its willing servant— 
even its slave. 

This type of youth movement, so utterly foreign to Am-
erican ideals, necessarily offers us nothing for emulation or 
encouragement—quite the reverse. Let me assure you, there-
fore, that this mental picture of European youth is one-sided 
and incomplete without the pendant Catholic youth movement 
which it has been my privilege to observe during the past 
seven years. Its high esteem of personal dignity with con-
sequent inherent rights and responsibilities; its philosophy of 
the State as servant of the common good, not the master of 
man's destinies; its breadth of sympathy, based on the unity 
of the human family as children of God, do offer to us, as 
Americans, an atmosphere congenial and encouraging. 

These young people represent a great spiritual awaken-
ing to Christian social responsibility. They admit past fail-
ure; they face present difficulty, nevertheless, with all the 
vigor and promise of Spring's new life, they set themselves 
to the task of social renewal. Upon St. Paul's vivid, practi-
cal illustration of the Christian community: "Ye are members 
of Christ and members one of another," they build their per-
sonal and social platform. Consciously and courageously 
they assume their part in the uncompleted story of human 
failure and achievement which lies between "the first great 
social event in history—the Tower of Babel—and the last— 
the Apocalyptic vision of union in the New Jerusalem." 

Oneness of spiritual objective does not in the least make 
for sameness of form, nor for monotony of expression. Each 
nation has its own special form of organization, its own ac-



08 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

centuation of program as distinct as the language it speaks, 
and all are very human in their expressed national prefer-
ences. 

Some are organized by groups of like environment and 
occupation, in which leadership and apostleship are developed 
of like to like. So we get, with Belgium and France leading, 
both among young girls and young men, rural groups; school 
groups; the economically independent, the working and uni-
versity groups. Best known of these and specially interest-
ing are the young workers with their splendid organization, 
broad program and fine headquarters. 

I still see a boyish, graceful figure, head high, collar 
open, telling an assembly of Social Workers of their organi-
zation, its practical aims, its recreational joys, its pride in 
work and faith in the conquering ideal of Christian living. 
To radiate the joy of an abundant spiritual life is also an 
accentuated note in the program of the girl workers, who 
seek practical realizations through social studies. They main-
tain a close relationship with the Christian social organiza-
tion of the women workers. 

These specialized groups unite in conference and public 
demonstrations. Only the color of the beret worn and the 
group songs distinguish one group from another in assem-
blies of tens of thousands. 

Other nations mass their youth, more democratically, 
perhaps, in parish groups, uniting them in communal, district, 
diocesan and national units, divided only by age interests and 
abilities. This holds for both boys and girls. 

My first introduction to Catholic Youth organization 
abroad was with this type of organization in Warsaw in 1931. 
Girls of all types and from all Poland were met to do honor to 
and profit by a conference of National Youth Presidents from 
7 or more countries. The talks, in many tongues, voiced one 
faith, one mutual bond of charity. They were punctuated by 
gay applause and bursts of song from the exuberant audi-
ence that filled the large hall to capacity. 

In Poland, as in France and other countries, where land 
holdings are large, one senses community of interest between 
proprietor and farmer, and the development of conscious so-
cial responsibility. 

Convinced: Logical: Militant. These are the goals con-



INTERNATIONAL YOUTH CONGRESS 109 

stantly set; and eminently practical are the means for their 
realization. 

The convinced Christian understands what he believes; 
the logical Christian lives what he believes; the militant 
Christian expounds what he believes. Hence the study circle 
is a theme, with infinite variations, common to all programs. 

Beauty is a tool as well as a joy. Artistic ability ex-
pressed in modern modes serves many ends. In 1934, the 
girls demonstrated visually good and bad publicity, and 
taught their elders how to captivate the mind in delighting 
the eye. At the April Congress in Brussels, they decorated 
the meeting hall in modernistic fashion and assembled and 
visualized in artistic exhibits their purposes, programs and 
publications. 

Recreation is the special province of youth. Sports, 
games, hikes loom large in all programs. But youth also 
shoulders responsibility for standards of taste in recreation. 
They influence "Movies" by patronage given or withheld. 
Through the medium of their International Office, the girls' 
organizations made a study on the status of the motion pic-
tures in every country. The charted results were presented, 
in 1934, to the International Union of Catholic Women's 
Leagues for consideration and action. 

Love, marriage, home, parenthood are the heart's desire 
of normal youth. To realize the heart's desire, preparation 
is necessary, so these young people think. And they think, 
too, that youth knows the need even better than their elders. 

Some of the young men's groups orient their entire pro-
gram toward home-building, including mastery of a craft, 
with spiritual and physical mastery as well. 

The girls' program at Brussels discussed the Christian 
ideal in married life; the elements of equality, sincerity, per-
sonal dignity, courses in family life for school girls, classes 
for girls over eighteen, special retreats for engaged girls, 
the education of Youth for the divine gif t of love; influencing 
public opinion in contacts, press, assemblies. 

250 delegates from twenty-one nations of Europe and 
the Americas, participated in this April conference, from 
which I have just returned. Amusing incidents prove that 
this internationalism in no way weakens patriotism, It is, 



110 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

however, a bond which logically—and they aspire to be logi-
cal—forbids international discord. 

Immediate and active though their program be, it is for 
all groups primarily one of preparation—personal prepara-
tion, group preparation for a future society in which, by the 
grace of the Holy Spirit of Love, Youth may yet help to "re-
new the face of the earth." 



INTERNATIONAL YOUTH CONGRESS 111 

"The Brotherhood of Man Through the Father-
hood of God" 

TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. Discuss: "You are members of Christ and members one 
of another," as a fundamental basis for all youth pro-
grams. 

2. Discuss the various European methods of Youth Organi-
zations. 

3. How- may we reach the goals "convinced, logical, mili-
tant" in our parish programs? 

4. Note that the European plan of well rounded program-
ming parallels our spiritual, cultural, vocational and re-
creational. Do you include all locally? 

5. What are the values of international organization ? Meet-
ings? How may this contribute to the "Peace of Christ 
in the Reign of Christ?" 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Christ and Christian Life Rev. J. Dupurray, S.J. 
Translated by the Right Reverend John J. Burke, C.S.P. 

Youth Leaders' Loose-leaf Notebook. 
N. C. C. W.—$1.00 

Cahiers de l'Union International Union of Catholic 
Women's Leagues, Belgium 

. Mariaplaats 33 Bis Utrecht (Pays-Bas) 
Union in Christ Rt. Rev. John J. Burke, C. S. P. 

N. C. C. W.—25c 





YOUTH LOOKS AT WORLD FORCES 
Elizabeth Morrissy 

The world especially needs the youth of today and all 
that youth has to offer. It needs the fine courage of youth. 
It needs the steadfast faith; the high idealism; the willing-
ness to "do and not count the cost" that is part of the heri-
tage of youth. We are conscious of a reaffirmation of values 
going on all about us. New forces, new theories and beliefs 
are replacing those with which we have been familiar. Spirit-
ual and intellectual revolts as well as mechanical and indus-
trial changes are confusing the values and realigning the 
forces that are powerful in the world today. Youth is enter-
ing into a swiftly changing drama of political, social, indus-
trial and religious life where new industrial conditions have 
upset our accustomed standards and new social philosophies 
threaten to subordinate the individual to the state and where 
new theories offered in place of supernatural Faith, tend to 
add further to the confusion of thought apparent on all 
sides. 

To the young person—boy or girl—young man young 
woman—who is about to seek a place in the modern world 
of industry and to choose among the many conflicting phil-
osophies, no one thing is of greater importance than that 
they be taught to "place first things first." It is very essen-
tial that, as they face the many forces at work in the world 
today, they be guided to an adjustment that will give not 
only a measure of material well being but spiritual satisfac-
tion as well. True education, whether the formal class room 
variety or the education acquired from group contacts, must 
combine to give some general view of life, else it is no edu-
cation. Youth's estimate of life, youth's ideals of right and 
wrong, youth's evaluations of the many theories offered, 
youth's reaction to law and government will depend upon 
the type of education given. To the Catholic youth, Faith is 
the cornerstone of educational life, as it is the guide of moral 
life. It is what a person believes of Christ that largely de-
termines his thought in every field of study and his action 
in every field of endeavor. It is essential that our Catholic 



114 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

youth cling close to this belief in their evaluation of the 
countless forces at work in a muddled world today. To a 
Catholic, Christ is not just a seer, a prophet, a wise teacher, 
a brilliant leader or an able social worker. Christ is God— 
the Way, the Truth, the Life. Youth thinks clearly, and is 
fearless in arriving at logical conclusions. If the fact of 
man's supernatural destiny is accepted, then the conclusion 
is inevitable that this destiny cannot be reached.by merely 
natural means. This central thought is the pivot about 
which qll else revolves. It is the one essential guidepost in 
this age in which faith has become dulled, and hope is dim-
med, and love has grown cold. If this main thought is grasp-
ed and clung to tenaciously, all other facts and forces and 
theories will take their proper place. 

As our young people, Catholic and non-Catholic, look 
upon the world today, they are confronted with powerful 
forces, both material and spiritual, many of which seem to 
have a hostile attitude to youth. These forces, whether ma-
terial or spiritual, must be met and conquered so that youth 
may make material adjustments and find a measure of spir-
itual satisfaction. Unless this can be worked out our young 
people will become a too easy prey to the countless shallow 
philosophies offered and to the propaganda and false teach-
ings rampant in the world about them. 

Young people are more willing to face facts than those 
of us who represent an older generation. For that reason 
we especially need their clear vision in the current confusion 
of thought. Their pet slang phrase of a year ago—that 
much abused "so what"—is a fitting example of their ap-
proach to realism in taking measure of suggestions offered. 
They seek facts. They ask proofs. Theories and promises 
and platitudes all go down before their blunt "so what?" 
This trite expression, the horror o£ many teachers of English, 
has been a veritable challenge to those of the older genera-
tion. It has stressed the necessity for a clarification of our 
thinking. I t demands that we reaffirm our values and be 
prepared to defend our choice in order that we may give an 
acceptable answer to that blunt question when challenged 
by it. 

Because our young people have not had an active part in 
bringing about present conditions, they can be more objective 



YOUTH LOOKS AT WORLD FORCES 115 

in their appraisal of the present social order and in their 
participation in the controversial political and economic 
questions. To be sure, they lack the wisdom and the ex-
perience and judgment that older heads should have; but 
they have a clear-eyed view that it is well to take into con-
sideration. They are anxious to "place first things first;" 
but bewildered and perplexed by the present confusion in 
thinking, or the substitution of emotion for any kind of 
thought, they do need some guidance and direction in devel-
oping a leadership that is their heritage. Such a bewilder-
ing array of drastic changes and readjustments is offered 
that even the wisest stand sobered before the magnitude of 
the adjustment sought, and the more fearful—bewildered 
by the multitude of panaceas and proposals—resent all 
change and mourn for "the good old days." Changes are 
going to be made. Changes are even now taking place in all 
fields of endeavor. Youth must be trained for leadership to 
meet these changes wisely. They must be trained to face 
facts, to weigh arguments and array the items in the order 
of their importance. 

Youth must meet many new and powerful forces at 
work in the world. They must meet industrial changes that 
well nigh stagger the imagination. They must meet spirit-
ual and anti-spiritual forces that would take from them their 
dearest possession. In preparation to meet the material and 
industrial changes, facts must be given to them—facts as to 
too crowded fields of work; facts as to occupational trends; 
facts as to vocational requirements. These facts are more 
necessary than at any previous time, since young people can 
no longer find their aptitudes by the old trial and error meth-
od of a part time job. The question of this material adjust-
ment through vocational guidance has been discussed in a 
previous broadcast. I pause only to stress one point. Re-
member that the conditions in which young people find them-
selves today in this highly industrialized world, are not of 
their making. These conditions are in large part due to the 
shortsightedness of the older generation, and for this reason 
our help and our experience should be made available wher-
ever it can be useful. Society is responsible for the condi-
tions that have let loose these new forces and society has a 
very real obligation in helping to the ^necessary adjustments. 



116 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

Young people today are just as anxious to work; just as 
eager to find their place in the economic world; just as ready 
to carry their share of the load as any other generation. 
They must not be let to feel there is no place for them. They 
are ready and eager to take their place. They are, on the 
whole, self-reliant and capable. They have more to give and 
their contribution is more needed than in any previous gen-
eration. They have a difficult situation to meet in this rap-
idly changing world. 

It is not only material adjustments that must be made. 
It is not only industrial and political forces that must be 
reckoned with. There are great questions of spiritual import-
ance to confront them. Now more than ever before it is es-
sential that we keep before them constantly that question— 
"What are the things that matter most?" There are some 
things that as Catholics we hold dearer than life itself, and 
for which the Catholic youth will gladly stand even against 
the strong tide of materialism, atheism and Communism that 
rises on all sides. Youth is glad to strive after ideals. Youth 
sacrifices joyously for a cause it loves. Youth must bear the 
brunt of the fight for spiritual values if the fight is to be 
won—and it will be—but youth cannot be expected alone to 
see the pitfalls of the modern false teachings, or to detect 
the shallow reasoning that underlies some outwardly attrac-
tive or alluring doctrine. Here is where direction and lead-
ership are essential in helping youth to meet world forces 
that threaten the things we love best—God—Freedom—Fam-
ily life. In false philosophies attractively offered—whether 
in the form of Communism or some other ism—young peo-
ple may not always be able to separate the essentials from 
the accidentals. Many of the new theories are two-edged 
swords which we need to handle with great care. Clear think-
ing and a. very careful analysis of the forces at work are 
needed as never before. 

When youth is given sufficient guidance and leadership 
to aid them in separating the shabby and the tawdry from 
the genuine and the real, there is no question of where their 
allegiance will be found. Youth normally responds to high 
ideals. Youth accepts sacrifice for a cause- cheerfully. Youth's 
love of adventure makes them joyous crusaders when once 
the banner is raised and more especially when it is the ban-



YOUTH LOOKS AT WORLD FORCES 117 

ner of the Cross. We need this youthful fearlessness; this 
youthful idealism; this youthful enthusiasm. Let us direct 
our leadership and our efforts so that when our Catholic 
young people face the world with its myriad forces now at 
work they may have a clear perception of what things mat-
ter most. Let our guidance be such that they may at all 
times remember— 

That Faith is the cornerstone of their educational • 
and practical life as it is the guide to their moral life. 

That clear thinking and concise expression are need-
ed and must be cultivated, so that they fulfill the "gif t 
of leadership inherent in the Faith." 

That preparation for life must be such a s w i l 1 devel-
op powers within them that will make it possible for 
them to feel at home in the world of ideas as well as in 
the world of facts—only then will they be able to evalu-

ate clearly and "place first things first." 

That they must be prepared to give an intelligent 
presentation of Catholic teaching in order to aid in a 
restoration of spiritual values to their proper place. 

That their leadership should be directed toward a 
spreading of the leaven of intelligence, and a demand 
that t ruth and honor and justice and charity be included 
in the preparation for meeting world problems. 

In short as our Catholic young people go forth to meet 
the world and all its forces, let us ask that they keep con-
stantly before them the ideals necessary, so that they not 
only stand firm in the swirling whirlpools all about them, 
but that they may plan to take an active part in the coming 
battle of civilization that is gathering its forces all about us 

a battle where the division is more than likely to be made 
on the answer to the question— 

"What think ye of Christ?" 



118 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

"Each Crisis Brings Its Ward and Deed."— 
Whittier. 

TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 

» How can we better help Youth to "place first things 
first?" 

2. Since "it is what a person believes of Christ that largely 
determines his thought in every field of study and his 
action in every field of endeavor," why is Catholic Youth 
not a greater force in shaping the philosophy of Youth 
today? 

3. How are you helping Youth "to bear the brunt of the 
fight"? 

4. How can you, in the life you lead, be prepared to give an 
intelligent presentation of Catholic teaching? 

5. Read and discuss with your group the encyclical "Athe-
istic Communism". 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Atheistic Communism Pope Pius XI. 
New Guilds Rev. R: A. McGowan 
Rugged Individualism Rev. John F. Cronin 
The Wages and Hours of American Labor Rev. Francis 

J. Haas 
What Laws Must We Have? Elizabeth Morrissy 
Consumers' Cooperatives .... Rev. Edgar Schmiedeler, 0 . S. B. 
The American Labor Movement Rev. Francis J. Haas 

N. C. W. C., 1312 Massachusetts Ave., N. W., 
Washington, D. C. 

Social Message of the New Testament.... Rev. H. Schumacher 
Bruce & Co., 524 N. Milwaukee St., Milwaukee, Wis. 





A CHALLENGE TO YOUTH LEADERS 

Anne Sarachon Hooley 

As I began to sign the journalist's thirty on this series, 
I was reminded of a story which I have heard recently, (at 
the moment I forget just where) of a man who was taking 
his little five-year old daughter through a Veteran's Hos-
pital. Noticing all the sick and crippled men, she asked, 
"Where did all these men get hur t?" 

"In the war," the father answered. "What's war?" she 
asked. 

Somewhat appalled by the task of explaining war to a 
five-year-old, he began haltingly to say that when two na-
tions could not agree on something, they had a war where 
all their men came together and fought each other until 
great numbers were wounded or killed. She was sober for 
a moment and then chuckled audibly. "Why do you laugh?" 
her father asked, no little dismayed at her callousness. 

"I was just thinking," she said, "wouldn't it be funny 
if sometime they had a war and nobody came." 

And so I was thinking—wouldn't it be funny if today's 
army of youth rounding the turn of the road should look 
upon us, the society into which it has come, and pass judg-
ment on the currently accepted philosophies? What if it 
should pause to think and thinking, say, "What is there in 
your definition of pleasure? Here you are jaded and tired 
with hectic living. And what has it given you but a head-
ache? You offer us man-made amusements when there lie 
idle at our door pleasures made by a Master Hand. You 
have made for us stuffy rooms and crowded places when we 
could have pack-trips and camping and swimming and tennis. 
You have made for us cinemas of crime and licentiousness 
when we could have gay dances, glad parties, sports, and all 
the thrill of team work and games. You offer us the burn-
ing restless search for brittle things when we could have 
real fun; fun which would open the vistas sighted by Jorgen-
son when he said 'The ultimate wisdom of living is to serve' 
\Ve too want fun, but we want fun which leaves us athrob 



A CHALLENGE TO YOUTH LEADERS 121 

with the joy of living, which brings us fit and eager to a 
new day, strong and able to conquer fresh worlds—fun which 
stores up for us in later years memories of joy and beauty 
and service." 

Wouldn't it be funny if youth should say, "What have 
you shown us of the craftsman's skill? We have all those 
atavistic urges to do, and to create, and to know pride in 
workmanship, but your homes have no place for our work-
shops. We are, fo i the most part, not geniuses, but it would 
be a tremendous satisfaction to express with our hands 
those ideas which well up within us and demand demonstra-
tion—to see the result of our handiwork and to know achieve-
ment. Why have you not brought to us all that beauty of 
the ages in music, in poetry, and in ar t? We need it to lift 
us above the necessary routine of daily existence, to open 
for us doors now closed, and to make new pivots for the 
emotions which we feel. What is there in this so-called lit-
erature of your making now that will give food to the body, 
or to the mind, or to the spirit ? We want reading that will 
carry us to uncharted seas, to high adventure, to romance, 
to new ambitions, rather than to the degradations of human 
weakness. We have searched in vain amid your surrealism, 
your modernism, and your smart sophistication for the beau-
ty which meets our standards—the beauty of truth and im-
mortality, and love. Through the universality and the ardor 
of our quest you must see that our need is imperative. 

"And then again, we ask you, where is our place in the 
vocational and economic scheme? You offered us freedom 
and license and profligate spending of time and money and 
dignity, but when depression came you bade us tramp the 
road alone. We had no armor of discipline and no refuge of 
inner strength. You showed us the philosophy of snap 
courses and easy jobs but all at once there were no easy jobs. 
We needed guidance and discipline and training and we were 
forced to learn for ourselves the dignity of work well done, 
of joy in labor. We are learning that to every man the day 
will come when, for his own integrity he must be able to 
contribute his share to the home, to the community, and to 
the society in which he lives. And we want to be able to 
make that career a rich one, whether it be home-making, 
business, the professions, or even an industrial job, but we 



122 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

know that it can be satisfying only when it is prepared for 
and happily done." 

Wouldn't it be funny if youth, looking upon world forces 
with that dispassionate, nonchalant attitude which is com-
mon to them, should say, "We have faced fairly the issues 
which confront society of today, and we are not misled by 
the honeyed phrases and the red banners of those who would 
take from us the things which hold the key of life. We see 
the onrushing tide of atheistic Communism, we watch verit-
able children being organized into its ranks, we know that 
some of our own number have fallen prey to the false 'isms 
and osophies' which seep into education, into social gather-
ings, and into homes, but we are determined to maintain our 
intellectual and spiritual balance. We see organizations 
lending their zealous enthusiasm, unthinkingly, unknowingly 
perhaps, to the promotion of a moral wrong, and we would 
beg them to lend their strength rather to the building of 
society and to the preservation of man's moral dignity. This 
generation may be willing to rear children for cannon fodder, 
and to promote class strife, but we would seek a saner solu-
tion in the principles of social justice founded on truth and 
charity. You have told us glowing tales of how a short gen-
eration or two ago our forefathers came , to this great new 
country and builded a nation of homes, of democratic ideals, 
and Christian standards. We too would take our place in 
the march of progress, we too would build with faith and 
courage, but we cannot build on the weakened shifting sands 
which you have shown us." 

This then, leaders and sponsors of youth, is your chal-
lenge, flung to you by the gallant hands of youth itself. In 
leaving, may I tell a story which, though several centuries 
old, seems particularly fitting? It is told, you know, that 
when Da Vinci began his famous painting of the Last Sup-
per, he decided to paint first the central figure and chose for 
the model of Christ a choir boy of St. Peter's in order that 
he might get that expression of purity and strength even 
though he would have to make the features more mature 
than those of the young model. Time went on, the eleven 
others were drawn in, and all was completed—excepting the 
figure of Judas. Nowhere could he find a man with features 
so repelling as to indicate one wicked enough to betray his 



A CHALLENGE TO YOUTH LEADERS 123 

Friend and his King. He looked tirelessly through the crim-
inal haunts of several cities until finally in one of the lowest 
dives of the city of Milan, he came upon a man in whose 
face was written the story of dissipation and crime. "Here," 
he said to himself, "is a man who has lived always in vice." 
After a few minutes conversation, he employed the stranger 
to pose for him. 

As the painter worked, there came to him frequently 
a haunting memory of having known this man before. At 
last one day, he remarked, "Have I ever talked with you?" 

"Don't you remember?" the model replied. " I posed for 
your first figure in that picture." 

"You!" Da Vinci cried in horror. "You were once a 
choir boy. Impossible! What could have happened to 
change you thus?" 

"Nothing," the stranger answered. "That was it. Noth-
ing to do; no one to care. One dissipation led to another. 
The road to evil is easy; it's the other road which needs 
help." 

As you gather youth about you to play, to dream, to 
work, to think, remember that in each one of them there lies 
a potential model for Judas, but likewise in that same youth 
a potential choir boy. But it is also worthy of note that 
even in the human wreckage of the last model, the painter 
recognized the ineradicable mark stamped there, by the King. 
I t is the preservation of that mark which gives purpose to 
your work. May your youth programs so build that the Da 
Vinci of another day may paint them in all their joy and 
their strength—with the wind of the morning in their hearts; 
with the flame of undimmed courage shining in their eyes; 
with the promise of fulfillment written fa i r upon their brow. 



124 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" 

"Beauty Seen Is Never Lost."—Whittier. 

TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. What pleasures can you offer youth in contrast to mod-
ern society's definition of pleasure ? 

2. How are you answering the challenge of youth, helping 
them to "Contribute their share to the home, to the com-
munity, and to the society in which they live?" 

3. Discuss—"Thè ultimate wisdom of living is to serve." 
4. Are you helping youth to "seek a saner solution in the 

principles of social justice founded on truth and charity" 
through study clubs on the social encyclicals ? 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Youth—Today and Tomorrow. 
N. C. C. W.—25c 

Youth—^Leadership and Catholic Action. 
N. C. C. W.—25c 

Reconstructing the Social Order, Encyclical .... Pope Pius XI. 
N. C. W. C.—10c 

The Conditions of Labor, Encyclical Pope Leo XIII. 
N. C. W. C.—10c 

Conferences on Catholic Action M. Rev. Giuseppe 
Pizzardo, D. D. 

N. C. C. W.—25c