University of Virginia Library

Chapter X.

MORAL AND RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION IN THE ROMAN
CATHOLIC COLLEGES.

IN order to understand what kind of moral education students
in Roman Catholie colleges receive, one must only be told
that from beginning to the end they are surrounded by an
atmosphere in which nothing but Paganism is breathed. The
models of eloquence which we learned by heart were almost
exclusively taken from Pagan literature. In the same manner
Pagan models of wisdom, of honor, of chastity were offered to
our admiration. Our minds were constantly fixed on the masterpieces
which Paganism has left. The doors of our understanding
were left open only to receive the rays of light which
Paganism has shed on the world. Homer, Socrates, Lycurgus,
Virgil, Horace, Cicero, Tacitus, Cæsar, Xenophon, Demosthenes,
Alexander, Lucretia, Regulus, Brutus, Jupiter, Venus, Minerva,
Mars, Diana, etc., etc., crowded each other in our thoughts, to
occupy them and be their models, examples and masters for
ever.

It may be said that the same Pagan writers, orators and
heroes are studied, read and admired in Protestant colleges. But
there the infallible antidote, the Bible, is given to the students.
Just as nothing remains of the darkness of night after the
splendid morning sun has arisen on the horizon, so nothing of
the fallacies, superstitions and sophisms of Paganism can trouble
or obscure the mind on which that light from heaven, the Word
of God, comes every day with its millions of shining rays. How
insignificant is the poetry of Homer when compared with the
sublime songs of Moses! How pale is the eloquence of Demosthenes,
Cicero, Virgil, etc., when read after Job, David or

Solomon! How quickly tumble down the theories which those
haughty heathens of old wanted to raise over the intelligence of
men when the thundering voice from Sinai is heard; when the
incomparable songs of David, Solomon, Isaiah or Jeremiah are
ravishing the soul which is listening to their celestial strains!
It is a fact that Pagan eloquence and philosophy can be but
very tasteless to men accustomed to be fed with the bread which
comes down from heaven, whose souls are filled with the
eloquence of God, and whose intelligence is fed with the philosophy
of heaven.

But, alas! for me and my fellow-students in the college of
Rome! No sun ever appeared on the horizon to dispel the
night in which our intelligence was wrapped. The dark clouds
with which Paganism had surrounded us were suffocating us,
and no breath from heaven was allowed to come and dispel
them. Moses, with his incomparable legislation, David and
Solomon with their divine poems, Job with his celestial philosophy,
Jeremiah, Isaiah and Daniel with their sublime songs,
Jesus Christ himself with his soul-saving gospel, as well as his
apostles Peter, John, Jude, James and Paul—these were all put
on the Index!! They had not the liberty to speak to us, and we
were forbidden, absolutely forbidden, to read and hear them!

It is true that the Church of Rome, as an offset to that, gave
us her principles, precepts, fables and legends that we might be
attached to her, and that she might remain the mistress of our
hearts. But these doctrines, practices, principles and fables
seemed to us so evidently borrowed from Paganism—they were
so cold, so naked, so stripped of all true poetry, that if the Paganism
of the ancients was not left absolute master of our affections,
it still claimed a large part of our souls. To create in us a
love for the Church of Rome, our superiors depended greatly on
the works of Chateaubriand. The "Genie du Christianisme"
was the book of books to dispel all our doubts, and attach us to
the Pope's religion. But this author, whose style is sometimes
really beautiful, destroyed, by the weakness of his logic, the
Christianity which he wanted to build up. We could easily see
that Chateaubriand was not sincere, and his exaggerations were

to many of us a sure indication that he did not believe in what
he said. The works of De Maistre, the most impudent history-falsificator
of France, were also put into our hands as a sure
guide in our philosophical and historical studies. The "Memoirs
du Conte Valmont," with some authors of the same stamp,
were much relied on by our superiors to prove to us that the
dogmas, precepts and practices of the Roman Catholic religion
were brought from heaven.

It was certainly our desire as well as our interest to believe
them. But how our faith was shaken, and how we felt troubled
when Livy, Tacitus, Cicero, Virgil, Homer, etc., gave us the
evidence that the greater part of these things had their root and
their origin in Paganism.

For instance, our superiors had convinced us that scapulars,
medals, holy water, etc., would be of great service to us in
battling with the most dangerous temptations, as well as in
avoiding the most common dangers of life. Consequently we
all had scapulars and medals, which we kept with the greatest
respect, and even kissed morning and evening with affection, as
if they were powerful instruments of the mercy of God to us.
How great, then, was our confusion and disappointment when
we discovered in the Greek and Latin historians that those
scapulars and medals and statuettes were nothing but a remnant
of Paganism, and that the worshippers of Jupiter, Minerva,
Diana and Venus believed themselves also free, as we did, from
all calamity when they carried them in honor of these divinities!
The further we advanced in the study of Pagan antiquity, the
more we were forced to believe that our religion, instead of
being born at the foot of Calvary, was only a pale and awkward
imitation of Paganism. The modern Maximus Pontifex (the
Pope of Rome), who, as we were assured, was the successor of
St. Peter, the Vicar of Jesus Christ, resembled the "Pontifex
Maximus" of the great republic and empire of pagan Rome
as two drops of water resemble each other. Had not our Pope
preserved not only the name, but also the attributes, the pageantry,
the pride, and even the garb of that high pagan priest?
Was not the worship of the saints absolutely the same as the

worship of the demigods of olden time? Was not our purgatory
minutely described by Virgil? Were not our prayers to
the Virgin and to the saints repeated, almost in the same words,
by the worshippers who prostrated themselves before the images
of their gods, just as we repeated them every day before the
images which adorned our churches? Was not our holy water
in use among the idolaters, and for the same purpose for which
it is used among us?

We knew by history the year in which the magnificent
temple consecrated to all the gods, bearing the name of Pantheon,
had been built at Rome. We were acquainted with the
names of several of the sculptors who had carved the statues of
the gods in that heathen temple, at whose feet the idolaters
bowed respectfully, and words cannot express the shame we
felt on learning that the Roman Catholics of our day, under the
very eyes and with the sanction of the Pope, still prostrated
themselves before the SAME IDOLS, in the SAME TEMPLE, and
to obtain the SAME FAVORS!

When we asked each other the question, "What is the
difference between the religon of heathen Rome and that of the
Rome of to-day?" more than one student would answer: "The
only difference is in the name. The idolatrous temples are the
same: the idols have not left their places. To-day, as formerly,
the same incense burns in their honor? Nations are still prostrated
at their feet to give them the same homage and to ask of
them the same favors; but instead of calling this statue Jupiter,
we call it Peter; and instead of calling that one Minerva or
Venus, it is called St. Mary. It is the old idolatry coming to us
under Christian names."

I earnestly desired to be an honest and sincere Roman
Catholic. These impressions and thoughts distracted me greatly,
inasmuch as I could find nothing in reason to diminish their
force. Unfortunately, many of the books placed in our hands
by our superiors to confirm our faith, form our moral character,
and sustain our piety and our confidence in the dogmas of the
Church of Rome, had a frightful resemblance to the histories I
had read of the gods and goddesses. The miracles attributed to

the Virgin Mary often appeared to be only a reproduction of
the tricks and deceits by which the priests of Jupiter, Venus,
Minerva, etc., used to obtain their ends and grant the requests of
their worshippers. Some of those miracles of the Virgin Mary
equalled, if they did not surpass, in absurdity and immorality,
what mythology taught us among the most hideous accounts of
the heathen gods and goddesses.

I could cite hundreds of such miracles which shocked my
faith and caused me to blush in secret at the conclusion to which
I was forced to come, in comparing the worship of ancient and
modern Rome. I will only quote three of these modern
miracles, which are found in one of the books the best approved
by the Pope, entitled "The Glories of Mary."

First miracle. "The great favors bestowed by the Holy
Virgin upon a nun named Beatrix, of the Convent of Frontebraldo,
show how merciful she is to sinners. The fact is related
by Cesanus, and by Father Rho. This unfortunate nun, having
been possessed by a criminal passion for a young man, determined
to leave her convent and elope with him. She was the
doorkeeper of the convent, and having placed the keys of the
monastery at the feet of a statue of the Holy Virgin, she boldly
went out, then led a life of prostitution during fifteen years in a
far off place.

"One day, accidentally meeting the purveyor of her convent,
and thinking she would not be recognized by him, she asked
him news of Sister Beatrix.

" `I know her well,' answered this man; `she is a holy nun,
and is mistress of the novices.'

"At these words Beatrix was confused; but to understand
what it meant, she changed her clothing, and going to the convent,
inquired after Sister Beatrix.

"The Holy Virgin instantly appeared to her in the form of
the statue at whose feet she had placed the keys at her departure.
The Divine Mother spoke to her in this wise: `Know, Beatrix,
that in order to preserve your honor, I have taken your place
and done your duty since you have left your convent. My
daughter, return to God and be penitent, for my son is still

waiting for you. Try, by the holiness of thy life, to preserve
the good reputation which I have earned you.' Having thus
spoken, the Holy Virgin disappeared. Beatrix re-entered the
monastery, donned her religious dress, and, grateful for the
mercies of Mary, she led the life of a saint." ("Glories of
Mary," chap. vi., sec. 2.)

Second miracle. Rev. Father Rierenberg relates that there
existed in a city called Aragona, a beautiful and noble girl by
the name of Alexandra, whom two young men loved passionately.
One day, maddened by the jealousy each one had of the
other, they fought together, and both were killed. Their
parents were so infuriated at the young girl, the author of these
calamities, that they killed her, cut her head off, and threw her
into a well. A few days after St. Dominic, passing by the
place, was inspired to approach the well and to cry out,
"Alexandra, come here!" The head of the deceased immediately
placed itself upon the edge of the well, and entreated
St. Dominic to hear its confession. Having heard it, the Saint
gave her the communion in the presence of a great multitude of
people, and then he commanded her to tell them why she had
received so great a favor.

She answered that though she was in a state of mortal sin
when she was decapitated, yet as she had a habit of reciting the
holy rosary, the Virgin had preserved her life.

The head, full of life, remained on the edge of the well two
days before the eyes of a great many people, and then the soul
went to purgatory. But fifteen days after this the soul of
Alexandra appeared to St. Dominic, bright and beautiful as a
star, and told him that one of the surest means of removing souls
from purgatory was the recitation of the rosary in their favor.
("Glories of Mary," chap. viii., sec. 2).

Third miracle. "A servant of Mary one day went into one
of her churches to pray, wlthout telling her husband of it.
Owing to a terrible storm she was prevented from returning
home that night. Harassed by the fear that her husband would
be angry, she implored Mary's help. But on returning home
she found her husband full of kindness. After asking her

husband a few questions on the subject, she discovered that
during that very night the Divine Mother had taken her form
any features and had taken her place in all the affairs of the
household! She informed her husband of the great miracle, and
they both became very much devoted to the Holy Virgin."
("Glories of Mary:" Examples of Protection, 40.)

Persons who have never studied in a Roman Catholic college
will hardly believe that such fables were told us as an appeal for
us to become Christians. But, God knows, I tell the truth. Is
it not a profanation of a holy word to say that Christianity is
the religion taught the students in Rome's colleges?

After reading the monstrous metamorphoses of the gods of
Olympus, the student feels a profound pity for the nations who
have lived so long in the darkness of Paganism. He cannot
understand how so many millions of men were, for such a long
time, deceived by such cruel fables. With joy his thoughts are
turned to the God of Calvary, there to receive light and life.
He feels, as it were, a burning desire to nourish himself with the
words of life, fallen from the lips of the "great victim." But
here comes the priest of the college, who places himself between
the student and Christ, and instead of allowing him to be
nourished with the Bread of Life he offers him fables, husks
with which to appease his hunger. Instead of allowing him to
slake his thirst from the waters which flow from the fountains
of eternal life, he offers him a corrupt beverage!

God alone knows what I have suffered during my studies to
find myself absolutely deprived of the privilege of eating this
bread of life—His Holy Word.

During the last years of my studies, my superiors often
confided to me the charge of the library. Once it happened
that, as the students were taking a holiday, I remained alone in
the college, and shutting myself up in the library, I began to
examine all the books. I was not a little surprised to discover
that the books which were the most proper to instruct us stood
on the catalogue of the library marked among the forbidden
books. I felt an inexpressible shame on seeing with my own
eyes that none but the most indifferent books were placed in our

hands—that we were permitted to read authors of the third rank
only (if this expression is suitable to such whose only merit
consisted in flattering the Popes, and in concealing or excusing
their crimes). Several students more advanced than myself had
already made the observation to me, but I did not believe them.
Self-love gave me the hope that I was as well educated as one
could be at my age. Until then I hae spurned the idea that,
with the rest of the students, I was the victim of an incredible
system of moral and intellectual blindness.

Among the forbidden books of the college I found a splendid
Bible. It seemed to be of the same edition as the one whose
persual had made hours pass away so pleasantly when I was at
home with my mother. I seized it with the transports of a
miser finding a lost treasure. I lifted it to my lips, and kissed it
respectfully. I pressed it against my heart, as one embraces a
friend from whom he has long been separated. This Bible
brought back to my memory the most delightful hours of my
life. I read its divine pages until the scholars returned.

The next day Rev. Mr. Leprohon, our director, called me to
his room during the recreation, and said: "You seem to be
troubled and very sad to-day. I noticed that you remained
alone while the other scholars were enjoying themselves so well.
Have you any cause of grief? or are you sick?"

I could not sufficiently express my love and respect for this
venerable man. He was at the srme time my friend and benefactor.
For four years he and Rev. Mr. Brassard had been
paying my board; for, owing to a misunderstanding between
myself and my uncle Dionne, he had ceased to maintain me at
college. By reading the Bible the previous day I had disobeyed
my benefactor, Mr Leprohon; for when he entrusted me with
the care of the library he made me promise not to read the books
in the forbidden catalogue.

It was painful to me to sadden him by acknowledging that I
had broken my word of honor, but it pained me far more to
deceive him by concealing the truth. I therefore answered him:
"Yon are right in supposing that I am uneasy and sad. I confess
there is one thing which perplexes me among the rules

that govern us. I never dared to speak to you about it; but as
you wish to know the cause of my sadness, I will tell you. You
have placed in our hands, not only to read, but to learn by
heart, books which are, as you know, partly inspired by hell,
and you forbid us to read the only book whose every word is
sent from heaven! You permit us to read books dictated by
the Spirit of darkness and sin, and you make it a crime for us to
read the only book written under the dictation of the Spirit of
light and holiness. This conduct on your part, and on the part
of all the superiors of the college, disturbs and scandalizes me!
Shall I tell you, your dread of the Bible shakes my faith, and
causes me to fear that we are going astray in our Church."

Mr. Leprohon answered me: "I have been the director of
this college for more than twenty years, and I have never heard
from the lips of any of the students such remarks and complaints
as you are making to me to-day. Have you no fear of
being the victim of a deception of the devil, in meddling with a
question so strange and so new for a scholar whose only aim
should be to obey his superiors?"

"It may be," said I, "that I am the first to speak to you in
this manner, for it is very probable that I am the only student
in this college who has read the Holy Bible in his youthful days.
I have already told you there was a Bible in my father's house,
which disappeared only after his death, though I never could
know what became of it. I can assure you that the perusal of
that admirable book has done me a good that is still felt. It is,
therefore, because I know by a personal experience that there is
no book in the world so good, and so proper to read, that I am
extremely grieved, and even scandalized, by the dread you have
of it. I acknowledge to you I spent the afternoon of yesterday
in the library reading the Bible. I found things in it which
made me weep for joy and happiness—things that did more
good to my soul and heart than all you have given me to read
for six years. And I am so sad to-day because you approve
of me when I read the works of the devil, and condemn me when I read the Word of God."

My superior answered: "Since you have read the Bible, you

must know that there are things in it on matters of such a
delicate nature that it is improper for a young man, and more so
for a young lady, to read them."

"I understand," answered I; "but these delicate matters, of
which you do not want God to speak a word to us, you know
very well that Satan speaks to us about them day and night.
Now, when Satan speaks about and attracts our thoughts
towards an evil and criminal thing, it is always in order that we
may like it and be lost. But when the God of Purity speaks to
us of evil things (of which it is pretty much impossible for men
to be ignorant), He does it that we may hate and abhor them,
and He gives us grace to avoid them. Well, then, since you
cannot prevent the devil from whispering to us things so delicate
and dangerous to seduce us, how dare you hinder God from
speaking of the same things to shield us from their allurements!
Besides, when my God desires to speak to me Himself on any
question whatever, where is your right to obstruct His word or,
its way to my heart?"

Though Mr. Leprohon's intelligence was as much wrapped
up in the darkness of the Church of Rome as it could be, his
heart had remained honest and true; and while I respected and
loved him as my father, though differing from him in opinion.
I knew he loved me as if I had been his own child. He was
thunderstruck by my answer. He turned pale, and I saw tears
about to flow from his eyes. He sighed deeply, and looked at
me some time reflectingly, without answering. At last he said:
"My dear Chiniquy, your answer and your arguments have a
force that frightens me, and if I had no other but my own
personal ideas to disprove them, I acknowledge I do not know
how I would do it. But I have something better than my own
weak thoughts. I have the thoughts of the Church, and of
our Holy Father the Pope. They forbid us to put the Bible
in the hands of our students. This should suffice to put an end
to your troubles. To obey his legitimate superiors in all things
and everywhere, is the rule a Christian scholar like you should
follow; and if you have broken it yesterday, I hope it will be
the last time that the child whom I love better than myself will
cause me such pain."

On saying this he threw his arms around me, clasped me to
his heart, and bathed my face with tears. I wept also. Yes, I
wept abundantly.

But God knoweth, that though the regret of having grieved
my benefactor and father caused me to shed tears at that moment,
yet I wept much more on perceiving that I would no more be
permitted to read His Holy Word.

If, therefore, I am asked what moral and religious education
we received at college, I will ask in return, What religious education
can we receive in an institution where seven years are
spent without once being permitted to read the Gospel of God?
The gods of the heathen spoke to us daily by their apostles and
disciples—Homer, Virgil, Pindar, Horace! and the God of the
Christians had not permission to say a single word to us in that
college!

Our religion, therefore, could be nothing but Paganism
disguised under a Christian name. Christianity in a college or
convent of Rome is such a strange mixture of heathenism and
superstition, both ridiculous and childish, and of shocking fables,
that the majority of those who have not entirely smothered the
voice of reason cannot accept it. A few do, as I did, all in their
power, and succeed to a certain extent, in believing only what
the superior tells them to believe. They close their eyes and
permit themselves to be led exactly as if they were blind, and a
friendly hand were offering to guide them. But the greater
nnmber of students in Roman Catholic colleges cannot accept
the bastard Christianity which Rome presents to them. Of
course, during their studies they follow its rules, for the sake of
peace; but they have hardly left college before they proceed to
join and increase the ranks of the army of skeptics and infidels
which overruns France, Spain, Italy and Canada—which overruns,
in fact, all the countries where Rome has the education of
the people in her hands.

I must say, though with a sad heart, that moral and religious
education in Roman Catholic colleges is worse than void, for
from them has been excluded tbe only true standard of morals
and religion—The Word of God!