SIR,—I wish cordially to endorse
D. H. Bridgeman'a letter of reproof of the Seminarian's article. Granted that the French are difficult to get on with (which I don't), are we so perfect? And have we suffered as much as France— having our towns and countryside devastated—our cathedrals smashed— twice in 40 years by the invader? Would we be any the less bitter or hostile if Westminster Abbey and a host of our lovely Pre-Reformation Churches had been battered to hell; our quiet old towns like Beccles and Bungay obliterated? We haven't suffered any of this; therefore we don't understand. We have had our losses—in man-power (the very word itself is significant of how we have come to regard it!)—but has it taught us really to hate war? I wonder. It all boils down to Our Lord's words " Let he who is without in among you cast the first stone "—. If instead of criticizing other countries English Catholics would try and learn from them it would be infinitely more to the point. I do not say that we, too, haven't got our virtues—we have—but for God's sake let us be humble about them. And for God's sake let us stop this niggling criticism and pray instead. Criticism is waste of energy and prayer is creative energy. If we English Catholics would only pray, as our forefathers prayed of old—by the Five Most Precious Wounds of Our Divine Lord— we would really and truly get something done—for did not Our Lord Himself say to &our Mary Chambon—" At each word you say in the Rosary of the Five Wounds a drop of My Blood falls on the Soul of a Sinner. This prayer is not of earthly but of Heavenly Origin; it can obtain all." And that—the conversion of sinners in a world where sin is apparently triumphant — is all that matters. GERALD WYNNE RUSHTON.
Haddiscoe Manor, near Norwich.