THE VATICAN COUNCIL
IN 1867 Father Hecker visited Europe in company with Father Hewit for
the purpose of opening business relations between The Catholic
Publication Society and English, Irish, and Continental publishers,
as well as to attend the Catholic Congress of Malines held in the
summer of that year. The latter purpose we the chief inducement for
the journey. The Archbishop of New York favored the project of
holding a Catholic Congress in America, and encouraged Father Hecker
to study the proceedings at Malines with this end in view. Their stay
at Malines was full of instruction, as they heard there the renowned
orators, Dupanloup and Montalembert, as well as others of note. The
Catholic Congress of American laymen held in Baltimore a few years
ago, and whose good effects are still felt, would have been assembled
twenty years earlier if Father Hecker could have brought it about.
These meetings were part of his scheme for that moral organization of
Catholic forces which he knew to be so necessary for the fruitful
working of the _official_ unity of the Church.
In the early part of the year 1869 Pius IX. wrote Father Hecker an
autograph letter commending the various religious works which he and
his community were engaged in, especially the Apostolate of the
Press, and giving them all his blessing.
"I have good news to tell you," he wrote to a friend. "The Holy
Father has written me the 'tallest' kind of a letter, endorsing every
good work in which I am engaged. Hurrah for Catholicity at
Fifty-ninth Street! My private opinion is that the Holy Father has
gone too far in his endorsement of Hecker. He has made me feel
ashamed of myself and humiliated."
When Pius IX. called together the Council of the Vatican Father
Hecker was urged by friends, among them several bishops, to go to
Rome for the occasion. The late Bishop Rosecrans, of Columbus, Ohio,
not being able to attend himself, appointed Father Hecker his
Procurator, or proxy. Before his departure he preached a sermon on
the Council in the Paulist Church, which was printed in _The Catholic
World_ for December, 1869. He devoted the greater part of it to
quieting the wild forebodings of timid Catholics and combating the
prognostics of outright anti-Catholics. He concluded by asking the
people to pray that the hopes of a new and brighter era for religion,
to date from this great event, might be fulfilled; for it was
commonly believed and expressly intended that the entire state of the
Church should be considered and legislated upon at the Council. The
breaking out of the Franco-Prussian war, as is well known, together
with the seizure of Rome by the Piedmontese, frustrated these hopes
as to all but the very first part of the work laid out for the
Council.
Father Hecker arrived in Rome on the 26th of November, 1869. When the
preliminary business of organization had been finished it was
announced that the procurators of absent bishops would not be
admitted to the Council, as the number of prelates present in person
was exceedingly large. But, he writes home:
"The Archbishop of Baltimore has made me his theologian of his own
accord. This gives me the privilege of reading all the documents of
the Council, of knowing all that takes place in it, its discussions,
etc. As his theologian I take part in the meetings and deliberations
of the American hierarchy, which is, as it were, a permanent council
concerning the interests of the Church in the United States, in which
I feel a strong and special interest."
Father Hecker had ever been a firm believer in the doctrine of papal
infallibility, as was the case with all American Catholics, prelates,
priests, and people. Shortly before leaving for the Council we heard
him say: "I have always heard the voice of Rome as that of truth
itself." This he also showed very plainly in his farewell sermon.
Speaking of the dread of undue papal influence over the bishops in
the Council, he exclaimed: "All I have to say is, that if the Roman
Court prevail [in the deliberations of the Council], it is the Holy
Ghost who prevails through the Roman Court." But the tone of the
controversy on the subject of papal infallibility, which soon
deafened the world, was too sharp for his nerves, and he abstained
from mingling in it. As a matter of fact he determined to get away
from Rome early in the spring of 1870. If the reader would know what
we deem to have been Father Hecker's frame of mind about the
proceedings of the Council we refer him to Bishop J. L. Spalding's
excellent life of his uncle, the then Archbishop of Baltimore, whose
views of both doctrine and policy were, as far as we can judge,
shared by Father Hecker, who was his intimate and beloved friend.
But his stay in the Eternal City, at this time more than ever before
the focus of all religious truth, as well as the object of all human
expectancy, had not been uneventful. Very much against his will he
preached one of the sermons of the course given during the octave of
the Epiphany, in the Church of San Andrea della Valle, and later on
another, on an important occasion, in place of Archbishop Spalding,
who had fallen ill. Much of his time he spent with the American
bishops and the distinguished priests who were with them; he renewed
the old-time friendships of his stay in Rome twelve years before,
seeing a good deal of Archbishop Connolly, of Halifax, N. S.; he made
new friends, too, among whom he names especially Mrs. Craven, the
author of the _Récit d'une Soeur;_ and he formed acquaintance with
leading men and women of all nationalities.
"There is not a day passes," he wrote home, "that I do not make the
acquaintance of persons of great importance, or acquire the knowledge
of matters equally important for me to know; and I gain more in a day
than one could in years at other times. For we may say that the
intelligence, the science and sanctity of the Church are now gathered
into this one city. Yet my heart is in my work at home."
He had two private audiences with Pius IX., which, though of course
brief, were very interesting; the Pope remembered him, and expressed
his interest in him and his work in America. The following extracts
from letters to his brother George, written very soon after reaching
Rome, recall an old friend:
"I do not know whether I told you of my interview with Cardinal
Barnabo. He received me literally with open arms. After an hour's
conversation on several matters he ended by saying: 'The affection
and esteem which I had for you when you were here before has been
increased by your labors since then, and my door is always open for
you, and I shall always be glad to see you.' He entertains a high
idea of the importance of _The Catholic World."_
"I had a most pleasant interview a few evenings since with Cardinal
Barnabo," he writes in April, 1870, shortly before leaving. "Among
other things he said: 'You ought to be grateful to God for three
reasons: first, He drew you out of heresy; second, He saved you from
shipwreck in Rome; third, He has given you talents, etc., to do great
things for His Church in your country.' He takes great interest in
the Paulists."
Not alone in Rome did he meet with friends, but what follows, written
home in December, 1869, tells that his name and his vocation had been
made familiar to many observant persons in Europe:
"It surprises me to find my name familiar everywhere I have been on
my travels. But magazines, newspapers, telegrams, and what-not have
turned the world into a whispering gallery. But the less a man is
known to men the more he knows of God; so it seems to me, as a rule.
Yet great activity may flow as a consequence of intimate union with
Him whom theologians call _Actus Purissimus._ From the fact of his
being known, I entertain no better idea of Father Hecker than I ever
did; and could I get him again in the United States, he will be more
devoted than ever to his work."
Father Hecker gave his view of the bearing of the Vatican Council on
the future of religion in a letter which will be found below. It
concerns what we have already spoken of at some length and what we
shall again refer to, namely, the relation between the inner and
outer action of the Holy Ghost as factors in the soul's
sanctification. We heard Father Hecker several times affirm that he
received special illumination from God on this subject while in Rome
during the Council, and that something like the very words in which
properly to express himself were then given to him. It was written in
the summer of 1872, but we quote it here before bidding adieu to Rome
and accompanying him in his short pilgrimage among the great shrines
of Italy:
"These two months past I have been driven away from home to one
place and another by poor health. . . . The definition of the
Vatican Council completes and fixes for ever the external authority
of the Church against the heresies and errors of the last three
centuries. . . . None but the declared enemies of the Church and
misdirected Catholics can fail to see in this the directing
influence of the Holy Ghost.
"The Vatican Council has placed the Church in battle array, unmasked
the concealed batteries of her enemies; the conflict will be on a
fair and open field, and it will be decisive. The recent hostility of
the governments of Europe, and especially of Italy, against the
Church, has shown the wisdom of the Vatican Council in preparing the
Church to meet the crisis. The definition leaves no longer any doubt
in regard to the authority of the Chief of the Church.
"For my part I sincerely thank the Jesuits for their influence in
bringing it about, even though that were as great as some people
would have us believe. . . . This had to be done before the Church
could resume her normal course of action. What is that? Why, the
divine external authority of the Church completed, fixed beyond all
controversy, her attention and that of all her children can now be
turned more directly to the divine and interior authority of the Holy
Ghost in the soul. The whole Church giving her attention to the
interior inspirations of the Holy Spirit, will give birth to her
renewal, and enable her to reconquer her place and true position in
Europe and the whole world. For we must never forget that the
immediate means of Christian perfection is the interior direction of
the Holy Spirit, while the test of our being directed by the Holy
Spirit and not by our fancies and prejudices, is our filial obedience
to the divine external authority of the Church.
"If for three centuries the most influential schools in the Church
gave a preponderance in their teaching and spiritual direction to
those virtues which are in direct relation to the external authority
of the Church, it must be remembered that the heresies of that period
all aimed at the destruction of this authority. The character of this
teaching, therefore, was a necessity. There was no other way of
preserving the children of the Church from the danger of this
infection. If the effect of this teaching made Catholics childlike,
less manly and active than others, this was under the circumstances
inevitable.
"The definition of the Vatican Council, thanks to the Jesuits, now
gives us freedom to turn our attention in another direction, and to
cultivating other virtues. If one infidel was equal to two Catholics
in courage and action in the past, in the future one Catholic, moved
by the Holy Spirit, will be equal to half-a-dozen or a thousand
infidels and heretics.
"The stupid Döllingerites do not see or understand that what they
pretend to desire--the renewal of the Church--can only be
accomplished by the reign of the Holy Spirit throughout the Church,
and that this can only be brought about by a filial submission to her
divine external authority. Instead of their insane opposition to the
definition of the Vatican Council and to the Jesuits, whose influence
they have exaggerated beyond all measure, they ought to embrace both
with enthusiasm, as opening the door to the renewal of the Church and
a brighter and more glorious future. . . . To my view there is no
other way or hope for such a future."
He left Rome and his many warm friends there early in the spring of
1870, and, as he thought, for the last time. He was full of courage,
he was conscious of not only perfect agreement with every credential
of orthodoxy, but of interior impulses of a marvellously inspiring
kind. In a very familiar letter to his brother's family he says that
just before his departure, while standing in one of the great
piazzas, looking at the concourse of representatives of all nations
passing back and forth, gathered to take counsel with the Vicar of
Christ for the well-being of the human race, he was so exhilarated
that he could hardly refrain from calling out, _"Three cheers for
Paradise, and one for the United States!"_
"I return with new hope and fresher energy," he writes, "for that
better future for the Church and humanity which is in store for both
in the United States. This is the conviction of all intelligent and
hopeful minds in Europe. They look to the other side of the Atlantic
not only with great interest, but to catch the light which will solve
the problems of Europe. Our course is surely fraught with the
interests, hopes, and happiness of the race. I never felt so much
like acquitting myself as a Christian and a man. The convictions
which have hitherto directed my course have been deepened, confirmed,
and strengthened by recent experience here, and I return to my
country a better Catholic and more an American than ever."
That he might say Mass daily and at convenient hours while in Rome,
crowded as it was at the time with bishops and priests, he obtained
leave to do so in his own rooms. He made little pilgrimages to the
great shrines of the Holy City, especially those of the Apostles and
the typical martyrs, not forgetting, of course, his favorite modern
saints, Philip Neri and Ignatius Loyola. The following are extracts
from letters home telling of his celebration of St. Paul's Conversion
and of the martyrdom of St. Agnes. The reader will remember that the
"association of women" here mentioned was one of his earliest ideas,
and one of the many whose realization Providence has given over, let
us hope, to some souls especially favored by Father Hecker's gifts:
"I pray much for each member of the community, and for light to guide
it in the way of God. Within a short period much light has been given
to me, and the importance of our work and its greatness have
impressed me greatly, more than ever before. Yesterday I went to the
Basilica of St. Paul, being the feast of his conversion, especially
to invoke his aid. I felt that my visit was not in vain. . . . I
forgot no one of our dear community. . . . On the 21st I said Mass in
the catacombs of St. Agnes; it was the day of her feast. More than
twenty persons were present, friends and acquaintances. I gave eleven
communions, and made a little discourse at the close of the Holy
Sacrifice. The scene was most solemn and affecting.
"What did I pray for? [during my Mass in St. Agnes's Catacomb]. For
you all, especially for the future. What future? How shall I name it?
The association of women in our country to aid the work of God
through the Holy Church for its conversion. My convictions become
fixed, and my determination to begin the enterprise consecrated.
"At the close of the Mass I made a short discourse. Think of it,
preaching once more in the Catacombs, surrounded with the tombs where
the martyrs are laid and where the voice of the martyrs had spoken!
You can imagine that the impression was profound and solemn on us
all. It was a piece of foolhardiness on my part to open my lips and
speak, when everything around us spoke so impressively and solemnly
to our heads. I will attempt to interpret this speech: In the days of
Agnes, Christians were called upon to resist and conquer physical
persecution. In our day we are called upon to overcome intellectual
and social opposition. They conquered! We shall conquer! Agnes tells
us there is no excuse for cowardice. Agnes was young, Agnes was weak,
Agnes was a girl, and she conquered! One Agnes can conquer the
opposition of the nineteenth century. Such in substance was my
discourse. The whole scene caused every one to be bathed in tears."
After leaving Rome he went straight to Assisi, for whose saint he had
ever felt a very powerful attraction. He thus describes his
impressions:
"The people that I have seen about here have a milder countenance and
a more cheerful look, more refined and human than the Italians around
Rome. They are to the other Italians what the Swabians are to the
other Germans. It is easy for the Minnesinger of the human, to become
the Minnesinger of Divine love.
"I could have kissed the stones of the streets of the town when I
remembered that St. Francis had trodden these same streets, and the
love and heroism which beat in his heart. . . . I said Holy Mass at
the tomb of St. Francis, and in presence of his body this morning--a
votive Mass of the Saint. It seems I could linger weeks and weeks
around this holy spot. . . . What St. Francis did for his age one
might do for one's own. He touched the chords of feeling and of
aspiration in the hearts of the men and women of his time and
organized them for action. St. Dominic did the same for the
intellectual wants of the time. Why not do this for our age? Who
shall so touch the springs of men's hearts and reach their minds as
to lead them to the desire of united action, and organize them so as
to bring forth great results? There is no doubt that the age wants
this. Who is there that is inspired from a higher sphere of life, and
sees into the future, so as to be able to speak to men and to invite
them to do the work of God in our day? Who takes all humanity into
his heart, and with the past and present at once in his mind can
inspire men to live and act for the divine future?"
He also visited the Holy House at Loretto, and, passing through
Venice and Milan to see the great churches of these cities, "the
despair of all modern church-builders," as he says, he came finally
to Genoa.
"I turned my steps," he writes, "to the general hospital; and why?
Because the interest of my heart was there, and has been there for
upward of twenty years. It is the spot where St. Catherine of Genoa
labored for the miserable, loved God, and sanctified her soul. Her
body is in a crystal case, uncorrupted, withered in appearance but
not unpleasant to the sight. When the curtain was withdrawn and I
could see her face and her feet, which were uncovered, I could not
help exclaiming with the Psalmist, 'God is wonderful in His saints!'
I cannot express what an attraction I have always felt for St.
Catherine of Genoa. She knew how to reconcile the greatest fidelity
to the interior attrait and guidance of the Holy Spirit with perfect
filial obedience to the external and divine authority of the Holy
Church. She knew how to reconcile the highest degree of divine
contemplation with the greatest extent of works of external charity.
She was a heroic lover of God, for she resisted His gifts, lest she
might forget the Giver in them, and be hindered the entire possession
of Him, and the complete union of her soul with Him. As a virgin she
was pure, a model as a wife, and as a widow a saint! Her writings on
the spiritual life are masterpieces, and though a woman, no man has
surpassed, if any has equalled, the eloquence of her pen."
He procured an excellent copy of St. Catherine's portrait preserved
at the hospital, and brought it home with him. He had done the same
for Sts. Philip and Ignatius before leaving Rome. St. Catherine's
picture represents a handsome face, earnest, simple, and joyful; she
is dressed plainly as a devout woman living in the world, lovely to
look upon and inspiring love of God and man in the beholder.
Father Hecker's stay in Europe during the winter of 1869-70 and the
following spring awakened in his soul aspirations towards a wide and
enduring religious movement in the Old World, similar to that which
he had started in the New. At the time he did not anticipate any
personal share in it other than encouragement and direction from
America. The reader will learn in the sequel that these aspirations
were again felt, and that with renewed force, when he returned to
Europe in ill health three years later.
What follows is from a pocket diary, and from a letter home:
"The work that Divine Providence has called us to do in our own
country, were its spirit extended throughout Europe, would be the
focus of new light and an element of regeneration. Our country has a
providential position in our century in relation to Europe, and our
efforts to Catholicize and sanctify it give it an importance, in a
religious aspect, of a most interesting and significant character."
"I do not wish to cross the Atlantic ever again, and therefore would
like to finish with Europe and Italy. As for the notable men of the
day, I have seen many of them--enough of them. My present experience
in one way and another seems to have prepared me to lay a foundation
for action which will be suitable not only for the present but for
centuries to come. No one of my previous convictions have been
disturbed, but much strengthened and enlarged and settled. I see
nothing, practically, in which I am engaged, that, were it in my
power, I would now wish to alter or abandon. I shall return with the
resolution to continue them with more confidence, more zeal, more
energy."
He arrived in New York in June, 1870.
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