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New Zealand Tablet, Volume LI, Issue 30, 16 July 1924, Page 30

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Ecclesiastical Jargon The Catholic Herald gives us the following note: A writer in Catholic Truth (London) has something fresh to say on “Ecclesiastical Jargon” which every one will heartily endorse. He proposes to substitute “Seven Sorrows” for “Dolours,” “Our Lady of Perpetual Help’” for “Succour,” “Husband” ■ for “Spouse of Mary,” “Finding and Veneration” for “Invention and Adoration of the Holy Cross,” “Remission” for “Indulgence,” “Prayers,’-’ for “Quarantine,” “Beheading” for “Decollation of St. John theBaptist.” We are sorry this writer has nothing to say on that awfully, cacophonical invocation, to “St. Joseph, her most chaste Spouse.” Whoever, hit upon this barbarian clash of consonants should be hanged, drawn and quartered at least in effigy. Unless it be promptly altered it may strike whole clergies and congregations with labial paralysis; it cannot be right to say a prayer with twists in the face, and it is certainly not handsome. Musical M.P.’s Mr. Robert Smillie recently expressed a hope that singing would take its place side by side with plain prose in propaganda work by politicians. “Lucio,” in the Manchester Guardian, suggests that this is .a good hint for Westminster. Why should not the most loyal and benighted of all British Parliaments except that of Belfast also take notice of the same “wheeze P Amending “Lucio” we advise our learned M.P.’s to take the mattei seriously: For why, if the principle’s so efficacious For bringing the mass of the voters along, Not carry it further and make the pugnacious M.P.’s on their benches break forth into song? What’s sauce for the goose should be sauce for the gander, What wins the elector should win the M.P. — And think how much nobler, more soothing and blander The tone of the Members debating would be! How nice to hear Wilford and Holland when pleading Their need for the facts in a ditty or lay; Or Massey transforming a dull second reading, While the air of “Boyne Water” gives pep to his say! Of course those who hear a cantata would judge itFar more by the sound than the sense they receive, And that would help William when chanting his Budget From “a” to “z” in wild recitative. Moreover, it might (and the fact should be hinted) Help much in disguising a case that won’t wash: What passes when sung, on paper when printed Is commonly found to bo absolute bosh; And thus maybe folk would accept without quarrel Even Nosworthy’s speeches when tunefully slung: For the words of Figaro still have their moral And what is too silly to say can be sung. Note. Aujourd’hui, ce qui nc rout pas la peine d’etre dit, on le chanter■ (Figaro). Happiness Good, real or apparent, , is the object of every human action? Good is the natural 1 object -of the will, and all the unrest and all the strife of life arise in ultimate analysis from the pursuit of the Good. Schopenhauer realised' this when he taught that man can only be happy when the will is no longer moved to action by desire, but he was wrong in concluding .that therefore happiness -would only be reached when through inactivity and death the will could will, no longer. The true philosophy is that of Aristotle who realised that happiness consists in the at-

tain,ment-by.the will of its proper object, that is of the ’ Good which leaves nothing to bo desired, which satisfies - AAs and contents the yearning of man after happiness. Solo- J mon decided for us long ago that no creature can bring yi happiness; he denied himself nothing and in the end he found that the gratification of his desires brought only vexation-and weariness. No theory but that of Aristotle will stand the test of time and experience. The yearning of man after happiness is almost infinite and only an ■> Infinite Good, only He for whom man was created can satisfy it: union with God, our first Beginning and our last End, can alone bring rest and contentment. Hence " it is that the best prayer and the most perfect of all. prayers is that little sentence from the Lord’s Prayer: Thy will he done. Conformity with God’s Will When we'nray, Thy will be done, we pray for conformity with the will of God, in other words we pray for perfect happiness in this life and for that which is the sure pledge of happiness hereafter. A commentator on that wonderful book, The Exercises of SI. Ignatius, thus expounds our thesis: In order to be happy in this life, it is necessary that we should be exempt from every kind of evil. Now he who conforms his own will to the will of God, cannot be subject to any evils, either moral, by which we mean sins; or natural, that is temporal calamities. ; For sin is merely the rebellion of our will against the will of God; therefore, he whose will is one with that of God can never sin. Then, as regards other kinds of evils, they are evils only in so far as they are opposed to our will; the moment we wish anything, it immediately ceases to wear the aspect of evil in respect of us, as St. Jerome says: "Have you suffered any misfortune? If you only wish it, it ceases to be such; return thanks to God, and the evil is changed into good.” Wherefore, if we shall wish whatever is pleasing to God, wo shall be certainly exempt from every evil; for as no misfortune in the world can happen without the will of God, it cannot possibly happen in opposition to our will which is intimately united with that of God, and desires nothing but what is pleasing to him. It is the will of God! Behold in these few words the medicine that can cure every evil; nay, turn evil into good. That is the true philosophy. It is the secret of happiness and the secret of sanctity. In it lies the explanation of the strength of the martyrs, of the cheerfulness of the saints, of their wonderful endurance of human suffering, .of loss, of what the world might call disgrace. Now any system .of education which is at variance with true philosophy is wrong. And we need not examine very profoundly into the system in vogue in New Zealand in order '" to be convinced that it in no way aims at teaching the young people this fundamental principle; that the will of God is the supreme law of life, and that to do it is the secret of true happiness. On the contrary Sir Robert Stout and his friends teach the children, by banishing God from the schools, that to do God’s will is far less important than to sing songs around a flag on a pole. Such people are the real enemies of the human race. W