ligion. Teachers cling tenaciously to the old method of question and answer from the primary grade to the high school. There is no sign of development in the thought presented to the children year after year in the self-same formulæ. For the little child in the first grade and for the youth in the high school the question and the answer is the same, the only difference being in the greater number of questions that the latter is supposed to have memorized. And this in spite of the fact that the results of such teaching are alarming all those who watch the careers of our young people. The tocsin of alarm has often been sounded, but with little apparent effect. The faithful lives of former generations of Catholics are pointed to as proof of the validity of the old method, and it is asked why it should not produce similar results to-day.

It is to be feared that such teachers do not take into consideration the dangers that threaten the children of to-day. They look out upon the world from the protected homes of their own childhood and because they never came in contact with things that threaten the faith and morals of the child of the present they refuse to believe that such things exist. Nevertheless, the children of to-day on the streets and later on in the mill and the factory, or the higher educational institutions, do meet all kinds of people, hear all manner of topics freely discussed without either faith or reverence; they hear virtue sneered at and behold indulgence in vice held up as liberty; they are told that God is a myth, that religion is a fairy tale. Is it any wonder, therefore, that the children, whose only knowledge of religion consists in the memorized answers to the questions of the catechism, find themselves totally unprepared for their surroundings and fall victims to the prevalent unbelief if not to the prevalent vices?

Religion, if taught in the proper manner, would prevent many of these deplorable results. It would enter into the heart and the imagination of the child and regulate his attitude towards God and towards his neighbor instead of lying inactive in his soul to perish there for want of expression. It is as true of religion as of all other subjects that opportunity to express the thoughts acquired is necessary to the child if his work is not to remain barren. When Christ taught the lawyer what should be done, He bid him go and do it. And the reward of the Kingdom was promised to him that doeth. Why refuse to adjust our methods in the teaching of religion to the changed conditions of the child's life? Why make the subject odious to the child by the retention of a method that has long since been discarded in all other branches? Why burden the child's mind with so much matter that he cannot assimilate? Knowledge does not exist for itself but for conduct. And if this be true elsewhere, it is preeminently true of religious knowledge. Self-expression is necessary to complete and perfect in the child's life the lessons of the Gospel. Put before him the life of Our Lord; let him see how He acted as a child and in His public life; and from this lead him to an understanding of the truths of Christian Doctrine. Imitation will lead to the proper expression and both will make religion fecund in the mind and heart of the child. The lives of the saints furnish splendid material which should be used in the same way.

"The child knows best what he has received through the greatest number of senses and expressed in the greatest number of ways," hence in the lower grades the action-song, the religious-play, the picture and the story, can be used with good effect. Bible stories in which the whole class takes part can be played. Construction work in which the pupils make or draw a miniature of the Temple, of the Cave of Bethlehem, of the stars, the angels, the

camels, the king, the crosses, Mount Calvary, etc., while the teacher tells the story of God's love for man in a way to inspire the children with a desire to give God a willing service, is a good way to awaken interest in religious truths. Somewhat later on the pupils may be called upon to make maps of Palestine, showing the routes of travel, the towns visited and the lakes and rivers by Our Lord when "He went about doing good." The physical features of the Holy Land, sanctified by the passion and death of Our Lord, should receive special attention, even if there be not sufficient time remaining in which the children may be taught the distance from Timbuktu to Ujiji, the products of Liechtenstein or the latest capital of Abyssinia.

Sympathy for the sufferings of Our Lord may be expressed by devoutly following the Way of the Cross. All the ceremonies of the Church, the reception of the Sacraments, the devotions proper for the different seasons, call for activities which, if properly utilized, become conscious modes of expression of the great truths of religion, and they produce, consequently, not only their intrinsic and characteristic effect, but at the same time they help to perfect the child's knowledge of the doctrines entrusted to the Church and of the language in which she expresses them. The Christian's duty of contributing to the financial support of religion and of Christian education may be effectively taught by having the children occasionally give a small share of their own spending money to help. pay the Church debt, to furnish flowers for the altar, to purchase small articles needed in the church, etc. A similar line of action may be followed in teaching the children charity to the poor, the suffering, the orphan, and foreign missions. These modes of expression will clarify the children's minds and enable them to gain a comprehension of the meaning of Christian Doctrine as no amount of verbal memorizing of the catechism could do. In a

word, the child's mind is developed and with its development proceeds the development of Christian Doctrine until the proper time comes for its correct and explicit formulation. The claim here put forth is that the mere memorizing is not sufficient, that a vitalizing of Christian Doctrine is demanded, and this vitalization can take place only through objective methods and appropriate modes of expression.

Delaware, Ohio.

SISTER M. GENEROSE, O. M. C.

CURRENT EVENTS

THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA

The registration for the University Summer School for teaching sisters and women teachers has reached a gratifying figure, and the success of the school in point of numbers seems assured. So far the students come from more than twenty States and represent over fifty teaching communities. Dean of the school is the Rev. Thomas E. Shields, Ph. D., the Vice-Dean, Very Rev. Edward A. Pace, Ph. D., and the Secre tary, Rev. Patrick J. McCormick, Ph. D., all three professors of the University. Many of the Sisters will find living accommodations in the vacant colleges that are to be conducted as convents; others will reside in the various convents of the city. The school will be open from July 1st to August 7th, and will have a teaching staff of twenty-two.

The Engineering Building, that accommodates also the new Heating, Light and Power Plant of the University, is now in full operation. The professors and students have taken possession of their commodious and elegant quarters, equipped with all the latest devices for the teaching of these sciences. The classrooms, drawing rooms, library, and professors' offices are excellent in every respect. The new building is an artistic edifice, and with its 125-foot chimney is a striking landmark. It is also the first University building to be erected on the new Boulevard Avenue that separates the University grounds from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.

The Trustees of the University met in Divinity Hall on Wednesday, April 26. Archbishop Farley was elected Vice-President of the Board in succession to the late Archbishop Ryan. The plans of the new Cardinal Gibbons Memorial Hall were approved, and the immediate erection of one wing and the basement of the tower was authorized. The new Departments of Ascetic and Pastoral Theology and of Drawing, the latter to include all the drawing common to the various classes of the School of Sciences, were created.